Information Papers

Nuclear Power in Korea

(January 2009)

South Korea

Power demand in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) has increased by more than 9% per year since 1990 but slowed to 2.8% pa projected 2006-10 and 2.5% pa to 2020.  Per capita consumption in 2006 was 8400 kWh, up from less than 1000 kWh in 1980.  Over the last three decades, South Korea has enjoyed 8.6% average annual growth in GDP, which has caused corresponding growth in electricity demand - from 37 billion kWh in 1980 to 407 billion kWh gross in 2006.

Generation capacity of 62 GWe in 2005 is expected to grow to 88 GWe in 2017, 26.6 GWe (30%) of this nuclear, supplying 47% of demand (214 TWh).  At the end of 2006 nuclear capacity was 17.5 GWe net (28% of total), supplying 39% of demand (141 billion kWh net in 2006).  In 2020 nuclear capacity of 27.3 GWe is expected to supply 226 billion kWh - 43.4% of electricity, and by 2030 or 2035 the government expects nuclear to supply 60% of the power.  This will require expanding nuclear capacity from 26% to 40.6% of total, adding about 15 GWe nuclear.

From 1961 until April 2001 South Korea's sole electric power utility was Korea Electric Power Company Ð KEPCO. Set up as a government corporation, 21% of its shares were sold to the public in 1989. The power generation part of KEPCO was then split into six entities and all the nuclear generation capacity, with a small amount of hydro, became part of the largest of these, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd Ð KHNP. KEPCO remains a transmission and distribution monopoly.  Korea Power Engineering Company is another KEPCO subsidiary.

Development of nuclear program & policy 

Nuclear activities were initiated when South Korea became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1957. In 1958 the Atomic Energy Law was passed and in 1959 the Office of Atomic Energy was established by the government. The first nuclear reactor to achieve criticality in South Korea was a small research unit in 1962.

Ten years later construction began of the first nuclear power plant Ð Kori-1. It started up in 1977 and achieved commercial operation in 1978. After this there was a burst of activity, with eight reactors under construction in the early 1980s.

South Korean energy policy has been driven by considerations of energy security and the need to minimise dependence on current imports. Policy is to continue to have nuclear power as a major element of electricity production.

After drawing on Westinghouse and Framatome (now Areva) technology for its first eight PWR units, and Combustion Engineering (which became part of Westinghouse) for two more, the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP) became a recognised design, and evolved a little to KSNP+.  In 2005 the KSNP/KSNP+ was rebranded as OPR-1000 (Optimised Power Reactor) apparently for Asian markets, particularly Indonesia and Vietnam.  Six operating units and four under construction are now designated OPR-1000.

Under the country's 5th long-term power development plan, finalised in January 2000, eight more nuclear units (9200 MWe) were to be constructed by 2015 (in addition to the four then under construction), while two units would be decommissioned about 2008 if licences were not extended. This would bring nuclear to one third of the country's total generating capacity and it would supply 45% of the electricity.

The Ministry of Education, Science & Technology's third comprehensive nuclear energy development plan, for 2007-11, projected that South Korea should develop its nuclear industry into one of the top five in the world, with about 60% of electricity from nuclear by 2035. As well as emphasis on production of nuclear fuel, the report envisaged construction of the Korean APR-1400 reactor.  In the country's 2008 Energy Plan to 2030, totalling some $100 billion, the increase was quantified as ten or eleven new nuclear power units.

KHNP and MEST are negotiating licence renewals to extend 30-year operating lifetimes by ten years, starting with Kori-1 and Wolsong-1.  A six-month upgrading and inspection outage at at Kori-1 in the second half of 2007 concluded a major refurbishment program and enabled its relicensing for a further ten years.  At Wolsong-1, considerable refurbishment will be undertaken in a longer outage, including pressure tube replacement.

Power uprates of most units occurred at the end of 2005, totalling 693 MWe and reflecting the fact that may had been declaring load factors of over 100% for some time.

Power reactors operating in South Korea 

 

Reactor Type Net capacity

Commercial

Operation

Planned

Close
Kori 1
PWR - Westinghouse
587 MWe
4/78

2017
Kori 2
PWR - Westinghouse
650 MWe
7/83
  
Wolsong 1
PHWR - Candu
679 MWe
4/83
  
Kori 3
PWR - Westinghouse
950 MWe
9/85
  
Kori 4
PWR - Westinghouse
950 MWe
4/86
  
Yonggwang 1
PWR - Westinghouse
950 MWe
8/86
  
Yonggwang 2
PWR - Westinghouse
950 MWe
6/87
  
Ulchin 1
PWR - Framatome
950 MWe
9/88
  
Ulchin 2
PWR - Framatome
950 MWe
9/89
  
Yonggwang 3
PWR (Syst 80)
1000 MWe
12/95
  
Yonggwang 4
PWR (Syst 80)
1000 MWe
3/96
  
Wolsong 2
PHWR - Candu
700 MWe
7/97
  
Wolsong 3
PHWR - Candu
700 MWe
7/98
  
Wolsong 4
PHWR - Candu
700 MWe
10/99
  
Ulchin 3
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
8/98
  
Ulchin 4
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
12/99
  
Yonggwang 5
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
5/02
  
Yonggwang 6
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
12/02
  
Ulchin 5
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
7/04
  
Ulchin 6
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
8/05
  
Total: 20 17,716 MWe  
Net capacities updated from KAIF 2008. 
 

In 2005 the capacity factor for South Korean power reactors averaged 96.5% - one of the highest in the world.

In 2005 permits for construction of Shin Kori 1 & 2 and Shin Wolsong 1 & 2 were authorised. First concrete for Shin Kori-1 & 2 was in June 2006 and August 2007 respectively. For Shin Wolsong first concrete for unit 1 was December 2007 and for unit 2 September 2008.  Site works for Shin Kori 3 & 4, the first APR-1400 units, started in November 2007, and completion dates then quoted were 2013 and 2014.

 

South Korean reactors under construction or on order

 

Reactor Type Net capacity Start construction Commercial operation
Shin Kori 1
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
June 2006
12/2010
Shin Kori 2
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
June 2007
12/2011
Shin Wolsong 1
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
November 2007
3/2012
Shin Wolsong 2
OPR-1000
1000 MWe
September 2008
1/2013
Shin Kori 3
APR-1400
1350 MWe
October 2008
9/2013
Shin Kori 4
APR-1400
1350 MWe
October 2009
9/2014
Shin Ulchin 1
APR-1400
1350 MWe
March 2011
12/2015
Shin Ulchin 2
APR-1400
1350 MWe
March 2012
12/2016
Total
8
9,400 MWe
    

 

As of August 2008, two further plants are proposed, to be on line by 2030.

Construction of the first pair of third-generation APR-1400 reactors - Shin Kori 3 & 4 - was authorised in 2006 though the actual construction licence was not issued until April 2008.  In anticipation of it KHNP placed a US$ 1.2 billion order with Doosan Heavy Industries for major components of these in August 2006.  Westinghouse has a $300 million contract with Doosan for part of this order.  In February 2007 a contract was let to a consortium led by Hyundai to build the two plants, subsuming the Doosan order.  KHNP expects the APR-1400 reactors to cost a total of around $6.3 billion ($2333/kW).  First concrete for unit 3 was poured at the end of October 2008, and construction time of 51 months is envisaged.

Reactor development 

The first three commercial units - Kori 1 & 2 and Wolsong-1, were bought as turnkey projects. The next six, Kori 3 & 4, Yonggwang 1 & 2, Ulchin 1 & 2, comprised the country's second generation of plants and involved local contractors and manufacturers. At that stage the country had six PWR units derived from Combustion Engineering in USA, two from Framatome in Europe and one from AECL in Canada Ð of radically different design.

Then in the mid 1980s the Korean nuclear industry embarked upon a plan to standardise the design of nuclear plants and to achieve much greater self-sufficiency in building them. In 1987 the industry entered a ten-year technology transfer program with Combustion Engineering (now Westinghouse) to achieve technical self-reliance, and this was extended in 1997.

A sidetrack from this was the ordering of three more Candu-6 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) units from AECL in Canada, to complete the Wolsong power plant. These units were built with substantial local input and were commissioned 1997-99. (se also DUPIC in R&D section below)

In 1987 the industry selected the CE System 80 steam supply system as the basis of standardisation. Yonggwang 3 & 4 were the first to use this, with great success. A further step in standardisation was the Korean Standard Nuclear Plant (KSNP), which from 1984 brought in some further CE System 80 features and incorporated many of the US Advanced Light Water Reactor design requirements. It is the type used for all further 1000 MWe units as well as the two under construction in North Korea.

In the late 1990s, to meet evolving requirements, a program to produce an Improved KSNP, or KSNP+, was started. This involved design improvement of many components, improved safety and economic competitiveness, and optimising plant layout with streamlining of construction programs to reduce capital cost. Shin-Kori 1&2 will represent the first units of the KSNP+ Program, and are expected to be among the safest, most economical and advanced nuclear power plants in the world.

Beyond this, the Advanced Pressurised Reactor-1400 draws on CE System 80+ innovations, which are evolutionary rather than radical. The System 80+ has US Nuclear Regulatory Commission design certification as a third-generation reactor. The APR-1400 was originally known as the Korean Next-Generation Reactor when work started on the project in 1992. The basic design was completed in 1999. It offers enhanced safety with seismic design to withstand 0.3g ground acceleration, and has a 60-year design life.  Cost is expected to be 10-20% less than KSNP/OPR-1000.  The first APR-1400 units - Shin Kori 3 & 4, are licensed for construction, and operation is expected in 2013 and 2014.  Korea Power Engineering Company is the main designer, and Doosan the main manufacturer.

KHNP decided not to renew its reactor technology licence agreement with Westinghouse in 2007 but to embark upon a business cooperation agreement instead, whereby KHNP would join with Westinghouse in marketing jointly developed technology while KHNP completes the development of its own components to replace those, eg in the AP-1400, dependent on the licensing. This will lead into a KHNP $200 million program to develop an exportable AP+ large reactor design by 2015, though Westinghouse is not likely to let it compete in main markets such as USA and China without KEPCO buying the rights to the design.

KEPCO has signed an agreement with Indonesia's PLN power utility to conduct a feasibility study - with KHNP - for Indonesia's first nuclear power plant. This will probably be one or more OPR-1000 units. The Indonesian government earlier confirmed in principle approval of four 1000 MWe units on the Muria peninsula, 450 km east of Jakarta in central Java, with a view to commissioning in 2016.

The Korean Atomic Research Institute (KAERI) has designed an integrated desalination plant based on the 330 MWt SMART reactor (see R&D section) to produce 40,000 m3/day of water and 90 MWe at less than the cost of gas turbine. The first of these is likely to be built on Madura island, Indonesia about 2010.

Fuel cycle

The Korean Atomic Research Institute (KAERI) has developed both PWR and Candu fuel technology. It and Korea Nuclear Fuel Company (KNFC) have supplied PWR fuel since 1990 and Candu PHWR fuel (unenriched) since 1987. KNFC has capacity of 550 t/yr for PWR fuel and 700 t/yr for Candu PHWR fuel.

Uranium for fuel comes from Canada, Australia, and elsewhere - 3100 tU being required in 2008.  KEPCO, KNFC, Hanwha and KHNP are together becoming involved with uranium exploration in Canada.

In 2006 enrichment demand was 1.8 million SWU, supplied from overseas. Tenex, Urenco and USEC have previously supplied this, but in mid 2007 KHNP signed a long-term (10+ years) EUR 1 billion contract with Areva NC for enrichment services at the new Georges Besse II plant in France.

Radioactive Waste Management

KHNP is responsible for managing all its radioactive wastes.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1988 established a 'polluter pays' principle under which KHNP is levied a fee based on power generated. A fee is also levied on KNFC. The fees are collected by MEST and paid into a national Nuclear Waste Management Fund. A revised waste program was drawn up by the Nuclear Environment Technology Institute (NETEC) and approved by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1998.

Used fuel is stored on the reactor site pending construction of a centralised interim storage facility by 2016, eventually with 20,000 tonne capacity.  About 9000 t was stored at mid 2007, onsite capacity being 12,000 t, half of both figures being for Candu fuel at Wolsong.  About 6000 t was stored at end of 2002.  Dry storage is used for Candu fuel after 6 years cooling.  Long-term, deep geological disposal is envisaged.

Low and intermediate-level wastes (LILW) are also stored at each reactor site, the total being about 60,000 drums of 200 litres. Volume reduction (drying, compaction) is undertaken at each site. A 200 ha central disposal repository is envisaged for all this from about 2008, eventually  with capacity for 800,000 drums. It will involve shallow geological disposal of conditioned wastes, with vitrification being used on ILW from about 2006 to increase public acceptability.

NETEC took over the task of finding repository sites after several abortive attempts by KAERI and MEST 1988-96. In 2000 it called for local communities to volunteer to host a disposal facility. Seven did so, including Yonggwang county with 44% citizen support, but in 2001 all local governments vetoed the proposal. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy (now the Ministry of Knowledge Economy - MKE)  then in 2003 selected four sites for detailed consideration and preliminary environmental review with a view to negotiating acceptance with local governments from 2004.

The area selected for the LILW facility will get 300 billion won (US$ 290 million) in community support according to "The Act for Promoting the Radioactive Waste Management Project and Financial Support for the Local Community" 2000. The aim of this is to compensate for the psychological burden on residents, to reward a community participating in an important national project, and to facilitate amicable implementation of radioactive waste management.

In November 2005, after votes in four provincial cities, Kyongju /Gyeonju on the east coast 370 km SE from Seoul was designated as the site. Almost 90% of its voters approved, compared with 67 to 84% in the other contender locations.

In June 2006 the government announced that the Gyeongju repository would have a number of silos and caverns some 80m below the surface, initially with capacity for 100,000 drums and costing US$ 730 million. Further 700,000 drum capacity would be built later, total cost amounting to US$ 1.15 billion.

Regulation and safety

The Atomic Energy Commission is the highest decision-making body for nuclear energy policy and is chaired by the Prime Minister. It was set up under the Atomic Energy Act.

The high-level Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) chaired by the Minister of Education, Science & Technology is responsible for nuclear safety regulation. It is independent of the AEC and was set up by amendment of the Atomic Energy Act in 1996. The regulatory framework is largely modelled on the US NRC.

The Ministry of Education, Science & Technology (MEST) has overall responsibility for nuclear R&D, nuclear safety and nuclear safeguards.

The Korean Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), an expert safety regulator, comes under MEST, though the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), responsible for R&D, comes under the Korea Research Council of Public Science & Technology (KORP).

The Technology Centre for Nuclear Control, responsible for nuclear material accounting and the international safeguards regime, was transferred from KAERI to KINS at the end of 2004 and has since been replaced by the National Nuclear Management and Control Agency (NNCA). Action is planned in 2006 to strengthen its independence.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) is responsible for energy policy, for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel supply and radioactive waste management.  KEPCO, KHNP, KNFC, NETEC and heavy engineering operations come under MKE, and KEPCO seems to have a controlling role re the others.

R&D

The main roles of nuclear R&D are to ensure that the national energy supply is secure, and to build the country's nuclear technology base so that it becomes a nuclear exporting country by early in the 21st century. KAERI is the main body responsible for R&D.

Particular goals established in 1997 include reactor design and nuclear fuel, nuclear safety, radioactive waste management, radiation and radioisotopes application, and basic technology research. The last, taking 27% of the funds, includes: development of liquid metal reactors, Direct Use of spent PWR fuel In Candu reactors (DUPIC), application of lasers, and research reactor utilisation.

The DUPIC program is the subject of South Korea's national case study for the IAEA's INPRO project, evaluating new fuel cycle technologies. It involves taking used fuel from light water reactors such as PWRs, crushing it, heating it in oxygen to drive off some 40% of the fission products, and re-forming it into PHWR fuel. It still contains all the actinides including about 1% plutonium, and about 96% uranium including approx 1% U-235. So the fissile content is about 1.5%, more than double that of natural uranium usually used for today's PHWRs. DUPIC research has been supported by Canada and is described more fully in the Processing Used Nuclear Fuel paper. 

The other major research initiative by KAERI related to used fuel is an advanced spent fuel conditioning process - ACP.  Development of this process involves substantial US-South Korean nuclear cooperation, since the USA effectively controls what is done with the country's used fuel, and will be central to the renewal of the US-ROK agreement in 2014.  Much of the R&D has been done in the USA, based on earlier US work in 1970s, but paid for by KAERI.  However, the US government then suspended this.  South Korea has declined an approach from China to cooperate on electrolytic reprocessing, and it has been rebuffed by Japan's CRIEPI due to government policy.

The US Department of Energy included in its 2008 budget funding for pyroprocessing R&D. This is significant in that the USA had strongly discouraged reprocessing in Korea previously. But after the USA announced its Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) early in 2006, the S. Korean government pressed it to include KAERI's R&D in GNEP, including particularly ACP. The DOE funding request for KAERI links pyroprocessing research to GNEP, while US DOE laboratories work with KAERI staff on ACP. Using pyroprocessing to close the fuel cycle with oxide fuels however requires them to be reduced to the metal on a commercial basis.

In 2008 IAEA approved an electrorefining laboratory - the Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF) at KAERI, which is to be expanded to engineering scale by 2012.  This is envisaged as the first stage of a Korea Advanced Pyroprocessing Facility (KAPF) to start experimentally in 2016 and become a commercial-scale demonstration plant in 2025.
Related to this, KAERI has proposed development of a sodium-cooled fast reactor, the SFR.  This is now supported by the USA in connection with GNEP and a demonstration Korean fast reactor is planned for 2028.

KAERI has been developing the SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) - a 330 MWt pressurised water reactor with integral steam generators and advanced passive safety features. It is designed for generating electricity (up to 100 MWe) and/or thermal applications such as seawater desalination. Design life is 60 years, with a 3-year refuelling cycle. A one-fifth scale plant (65 MWt) is being constructed, for operation in 2007.

KAERI has also constructed 30 MW thermal research reactor based on the Canadian Maple design called HANARO, which started up in 1995.

KALIMER (Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor) is a 600 MWe pool type sodium-cooled fast reactor designed since 1992 to operate at 510ºC.  A transmuter core consisting of uranium and transuranics in metal form from pyro-processing is being designed, and no breeding blanket is involved.  Future deployment of KALIMER as a Generation IV type is envisaged.

A 150 MW fast reactor has also been designed by KAERI.

A second stream of fast reactor development is via the Nuclear Transmutation Energy Research Centre of Korea (NuTrECK) at Seoul University (SNU), drawing on Russian experience.  It is working on lead-bismuth cooled designs of 35, 300 and 550 MW which would operate on pyro-processed fuel.  The 35 MW unit is designed to be leased for 20 years and operated without refuelling, and then returned to the supplier.  It would be refuelled at the pyro-processing plant and have a design life of 60 years.

KAERI has also submitted a Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) design to the Generation IV International Forum with a view to hydrogen production from it. This is envisaged as 300 MWt modules each producing 30,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year. KAERI expects the design concept to be ready in 2008, engineering design in 2014, construction start 2016 and operation in 2020.

In 2005 KAERI embarked upon a US$ 1 billion R&D and demonstration program aiming to produce commercial hydrogen using nuclear heat around 2020. KAERI has close links on hydrogen with the Institute of Nuclear & New Energy Technology (INET) at Tsinghua University in China, based on China's HTR-10 reactor, and is forming other links with its counterpart in Japan. In 2005 it set up a South Korea-US Nuclear Hydrogen Joint Development Center involving General Atomics.

It plans to develop the sulfur-iodine (SI) process for hydrogen production while also developing high-temperature reactors and the alloys enabling them to be used with heat exchangers for chemical plants. Prototype SI hydrogen production is expected about 2011, followed by a pilot plant in 2016, which will then be connected to a high-temperature reactor. Which type of reactor will be decided in 2006.

Beyond fission, KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) was launched in December 1995 and began operating in September 2007 at Daejeon. The US$ 330 million facility is the world's eight fusion device and will be a major contribution to world fusion research, contributing to the ITER project taking shape in France.

Non-proliferation

South Korea is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state. Its safeguards agreement under the NPT came into force in 1975 and it has signed the Additional Protocol in relation to this.

North Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, aka North Korea) generated 34 TWh in 2002 and 19 TWh in 2003, 71% from hydro and 29% from fossil fuels. Per capita consumption in 2002 was 1364 kWh. Recent estimates suggest that operable generating capacity is 2000-3000 MWe.

In 1985, it brought into operation a small gas-cooled, graphite-moderated, natural-uranium (metal) fuelled "Experimental Power Reactor" of about 25 MW (thermal) at Yongbyon. It exhibited all the features of a plutonium production reactor for weapons purposes and produced only about 5 MWe. North Korea also made substantial progress in the construction of two larger reactors designed on the same principles, a prototype of about 200 MWt (50 MWe) at Yongbyon, and a full-scale version of about 800 MWt (200 MWe) at Taechon.

In 1999 a contract to build two 1000 MWe light-water reactors was signed. The agreement is between the Korean Energy Development Organisation (KEDO), the international organisation in charge of the project, and the South Korean utility KEPCO, bringing technology to build a nuclear power plant which is not amenable to misuse. KEDO was set up following the 1994 deal involving the USA to head off the production of weapons plutonium from the small gas-graphite reactor and to provide much needed energy - in the short term fuel oil, but eventually electricity.

KHNP is the prime contractor for KEDO which has been building the two reactors at Kumho in North Korea. If completed, these will be the last basic KSNP units commissioned. In 2005 South Korea offered 2000 MWe from the grid to North Korea.

Construction of the reactors under KEDO was suspended late in 2003, and this suspension was renewed in 2004 and 2005. The KEDO board terminated the project in May 2006. Most of the fabrication of steam generators, pressure vessels and other equipment for both reactors is complete. This equipment could be sold off to other nuclear projects, including South Korean export ones.

Non-proliferation

DPRK was a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state, but it delayed concluding its safeguards agreement with the IAEA and in April 2003 it withdrew from the NPT. In October 2006 it exploded a nuclear device underground.

In February 2007 DPRK agreed to shut down and seal the Yongbyon reactor and related facilities including reprocessing plant within 60 days and accept IAEA monitoring of this, in return for assistance with its energy needs. Further assistance would follow the irreversible disabling of the reactor and all other nuclear facilities.

See also: Iraq, North Korea & Iran - Implications for Safeguards- Appendix to Safeguards paper.

References:
Country Nuclear Power Profiles, IAEA, 1998, p.331-346.
OECD/IEA 1994 Energy Policies of the Republic of Korea
Westinghouse World View, August 2002, Korea's Nuclear Strategy.
Chung, Bum-Chin, 2001, Growth in Korean Nuclear Activity, The Nuclear Engineer 42,3.
KHNP Trust 2002 and web site.
Song, M-J. 2003, Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal in Korea, KAIF/KNS conference.
Hong J-H 2006, Status and plans for nuclear power in Korea, WNFC conference April 2006.
Presentation at WNU Summer Institute, Cheongju, August 2007.

Korea Atomic industrial Forum, 2008, Nuclear Industry in the Republic of Korea.