Grid connection for South Korean reactor

Thursday, 26 February 2015

The second unit of the Shin Wolsong plant was connected to the power grid today following the successful completion of commissioning tests, plant owner Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced.

Shin Wolsong units 1 and 2 (Image: KHNP)

Fuel loading began at the 1050 MWe OPR-1000 reactor on 14 November after South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) issued an operating licence to KHNP for the reactor.

Since then, the reactor has achieved first criticality and various tests - including the hot functional test - have been performed. KHNP noted that the unit was connected to the grid just 104 days after the NSSC issued the operating licence.

The company said it is aiming to begin commercial operation of the unit in July 2015.

Construction began on Shin Wolsong 2 in 2008 and was completed in 2013, but the NSSC withheld permission for the reactor to start up following a discovery in May of that year that safety-related control cabling with falsified documentation had been installed at four reactors. The NSSC approved the restart of the other affected reactors - Shin Kori units 1 and 2 and Shin Wolsong unit 1 - in January 2014 after the completion of recabling work.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News