Celebrations at South Korean groundbreaking
Preparations for the construction of two new light water reactors at Shin Ulchin have been marked by a visit to the site by South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak.Preparations for the construction of two new light water reactors at Shin Ulchin have been marked by a visit to the site by South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak.
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| Celebrations at Shin Ulchin (Image: Cheong Wa Dae) |
Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) held a groundbreaking ceremony attended by over 700 workers and local residents and to celebrate the start of work on the two Korean-designed APR-1400 pressurised water reactors.
South Korea has worked hard to develop an independent nuclear industry since its first three commercial units were built as turnkey projects by Westinghouse and AECL in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From those beginnings, through an extended technology transfer program with Westinghouse forerunner Combustion Engineering, came the development of the OPR 1000 and then the Advanced Pressurised Reactor-1400 (APR-1400). The Shin Ulchin units are the second pair of APR 1400s to be built - two are already under construction at Shin Kori – but will be the first to be virtually free of intellectual property content from Westinghouse.
President Lee described the construction of Shin Ulchin 1 and 2 as a "huge milestone" for South Korea's engineers, saying that the country had "achieved the dream of independent nuclear technology."
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
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