POWER July 2017 - 8

A Mixed Bag of Nuclear
Developments in the UAE,
S. Korea, Switzerland, and
S. Africa
The world's nuclear sector saw a flurry
of activity during April and May, though
most of it wasn't good news.
First Unit at Barakah Built, but Regulatory
Delays Prevail. Initial construction
activities for the first of four units
under construction at the Barakah Nuclear
Energy Plant (Figure 1) in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) were completed on May 5
on time and on budget-which makes this
project unique within an industry characterized
by cost overruns and delays. But
now fuel loading, startup, and commercial
operation of the unit is still awaiting
the approval of the Federal Authority for
Nuclear Regulation (FANR), and that could
take several more months.
The four APR1400 units are being built
by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC)
and Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).
KEPCO subsidiary Korea Hydro and Nuclear
Power Co. (KHNP) will test and commission
the units, and then Nawah Energy Co., a
joint venture between ENEC and KEPCO, will
take over and operate the units.
But exactly when Unit 1-the UAE's
first nuclear power reactor-will begin operations
is unclear. ENEC estimates startup
will occur in 2018, a timeline that reflects
" the conservatism of ENEC's management
and Board of Directors, as well as our local,
federal and international stakeholders,
all of whom stand firmly united in the
belief that long-term sustainable operations
begin with strict adherence to nuclear
safety, " it said. FANR is also carrying
out a " rigorous and stringent review " of
the operating license application submitted
by ENEC in March 2015, the company
added. Until FANR approves the operating
licenses for Units 1 and 2, at least, fuel
assemblies manufactured by KEPCO NF received
in late May will be stored. Meanwhile,
the International Atomic Energy
Agency and World Association of Nuclear
Operators also want to conduct a series of
voluntary, but independent, assessments
of the robustness of the operating infrastructure,
as well as to check the proficiency
of operational personnel.
S. Korea Halts Shin Hanul Units,
Launches Energy Policy Aimed at Reducing
Nuclear, Coal Share. The Barakah
units use relatively new South Korean
APR1400 technology. According to stateowned
KHNP, the APR1400 evolved from
the " well-proven " OPR1000 Korean Standard
Nuclear Power Plant design, which
took just 10 years and 234.6 billion won
($193 million) to develop. The advanced
design incorporates a number of modifications
and improvements to meet needs
for " enhanced safety and economic goals
and to address the new licensing issues
such as mitigation of severe accidents. "
KHNP also noted that the APR1400 has
been developed to meet 43 basic design
requirements, such as 4,000-MW-rated
thermal power, a 60-year lifetime, and
lower probabilities of core damage and accidental
radiation release than the country's
OPR1000 plants.
KHNP, which has ambitious plans to
export the technology beyond the UAE,
especially to power-strapped Middle East
nations, only put online South Korea's first
power plant using APR1400 technology in
December 2016 at Shin Kori 3 (Figure 2).
1. A nuclear mirage. Initial construction activities at Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy
Plant in the United Arab Emirates, where three other APR1400s are simultaneously under construction,
were concluded in early May. Construction of Unit 1 began in 2012. As of early June,
the project as a whole was 80% complete. Courtesy: Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp.
That project, whose construction began in
October 2008, and a sister reactor, Shin
Kori 4, were delayed nearly four years owing
to extended testing-and subsequent
replacement-of safety-related control cabling
in the aftermath of a documentation
scandal that rocked the country's nuclear
industry and prompted the government to
shut down reactors for safety checks, despite
power outages (see, " Documentation
Scandal Strains South Korea's Power Supplies "
in our August 2013 issue). Shin Kori
4 is now expected to come online within
the next few months.
A second set of two APR1400 reactors
that KHNP was developing with KEPCO
Engineering and Construction at Shin Hanul
were suspended on May 25, however,
just weeks after the election of President
Moon Jae-in on May 9. KHNP has already
applied for a construction license for Shin
Hanul 3 and 4, and it was engaged in site
preparation. Unit 3 was expected to come
online in December 2022, and Unit 4, in
December 2023.
During his electoral campaign as a
member of the center-left Democratic
Party of Korea, Moon signed an agreement
with six other presidential candidates to
essentially phase out nuclear power in the
country that currently depends on its 25
reactors for about 30% of its power supply.
The government's last 7th basic longterm
power development plan for power
supply and demand, released in July 2015,
foresaw 12 new reactors in operation by
2029 in a bid to meet environmental and
economic goals. But during the electoral
campaign, Moon indicated that his administration
would cancel plans for eight new
reactors-including the partly completed
Shin Kori 5-and also shutter Wolsong
1, a 34-year-old CANDU 6 reactor that in
2015 received, after a two-year hiatus, a
license extension to operate until 2022.
Then, on June 4, South Korea's new
government unveiled an energy policy
that signals it will abruptly turn away
from coal and nuclear and toward natural
gas and renewables instead. While experts
note that an energy roadmap will still
need to be hashed out, the policy factors
in a 2.2% average annual growth in electricity
consumption and calls for a giant
surge in gas-fired generation-from the
current 18% share it has now in the total
power mix to 27% by 2030. Renewables,
including hydropower, would rise from 5%
to 20%, while coal will plunge from 40%
8
www.powermag.com
POWER | July 2017

http://www.powermag.com

POWER July 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER July 2017