ICAPP 2005 to Kick Off in
Seoul on May 15
- Latest nuclear technologies will be presented

Some 650 people from academia, research institutes and businesses in the nuclear sector from 29 countries will participate in the 2005 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2005) that will coincide with the 20th KAIF/KNS Annual Conference at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in Korea on May 15-19.
ICAPP 2005, marking the fifth year since its inception, is the most prestigious international conference in the nuclear power sector, organizers say. ICAPP is an annual conference, jointly organized by nuclear power research associations of such countries as the United States, Japan, France, Korea, Spain, and supported by IAEA, OECE-NEA and nuclear power research bodies of Canada, Germany and China. ICAPP is held along with the American Nuclear Society Meeting in the United States in an even year, while it is held outside the United States in an odd year, alternatively in Europe or Asia.
ICAPP was established by American Nuclear Society in 2002 in a bid to share information among business, school and research sectors technologies related to development of advanced reaction systems and lessons learned from operating nuclear power plants ranging from safety to reliability. ICAPP 2003 was held in Spain and ICAPP 2004, in Pittsburgh, the United States. This year, Seoul will play host to ICAPP for the first time in Asia. ICAPP 2005 will be a large-scale international conference as about 500 global nuclear experts have already registered their theses, to be announced during the conference, and some 650 people from 29 countries are expected to participate, said Shim Jong-jin, director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), and concurrently secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Organizing Committee of ICAPP 2005. Speaking specifically, a total of 460 theses will be made public during 10 technical sessions, while 30 others will be announced during five plenary sessions.
Lee Won-gol, assistant minister in charge of energy policy at the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy,; Juhid Kazimi, TEPCO prof., of Nuclear Engineering MIT (USA),; John Ritch, director general of World Nuclear Association, Shunsuke Kondo, chairman of the Japanese nuclear power committee,; Tomihiro Taniguchi, deputy director general of safety & security at IAEA,; and Luis Echavarri, director general of OECD/NEA, will deliver keynote speeches during the opening plenary session on May 16. The speakers at the Plenary Session (I): Advanced Nuclear Energy System Development: International Initiatives and Global Collaboration include Kim Yong-hwan, director general of the Atomic Energy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Bernard Jolly, director of nuclear activities at Jeumont SA of France.
The five people, including Regis Matzie, senior vice president & chief technology officer at Westinghouse (USA), and Paul Fehrenbach, vice president in charge of technology at AECL (Canada) will speak during Plenary Session (II): Near-Term Deployment of New Plants: Multidisciplinary Issues and Engineering Challenges.
Hong Jang-hee, senior vice president of KHNP (Korea), Akira Kawahara, senior chief engineer at Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), Bernard Roche, senior vice president and head of Nuclear Affairs EDF Generation (France) will speak during Plenary Session (III): Strategies for Nuclear Power: Plant Economics and Operational Challenges.
Among the speakers at Plenary Session (IV): Broadening the Atomic Horizon: Non-Electric Application of Nuclear Energy will be Dave Baldwin, vice present of General Atomics (USA), Kazuhiki Kunitomi , Group Leader of Future HTGR Development Group , JAERI (Japan) and Chunxi Wu, professor of China Institute of Nuclear Information & Economics (China). Takashi Namba, Group Leader of Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (Japan) and Kathryn McCarthy, of INL (USA) and two others will speak during Plenary Session (V): Emerging Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technologies: Prospective Promises and Current Challenges.
An exhibition will be also held in conjunction with ICAPP 2005 and the 20th Korea Atomic Industry Forum (KAIF) Annual Conference between May 15-May 18. The exhibition is expected to offer an excellent opportunity to assess new technologies and exchange the most up-to-date information. The participating exhibitors include Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Korea Power Engineering Co., Korea Nuclear Fuel Co., Westinghouse, AREVA Korea, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Korea Plant Service & Engineering Co. TENEX-Korea and Flowserve Koresa.
Countries across the globe are increasingly turning to nuclear power as means of ensuring a stable energy sufficiency in the wake of unabated crude oil price hikes and the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The U.S administration of President George W. Bush and the nuclear power industry has pushed construction of nuclear power plants through the early site procurement (ESP) for new units and the combined procedure for construction/operation licenses (COL), and tangible results are forecast soon. China plans to construct an additional 40 units over the next 15 years to address a shortage of power, caused by its rapid economic growth. France, which relies on nuclear power for 78 percent of power needs, is scheduled to build European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) units at the Plaman Vill Nuclear Plant Complex. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is likely to push for new nuclear plant projects now that he has been re-elected.
The global nuclear power industry is exerting itself to develop advanced reactor systems designed to reinforce reliability and efficiency through technology innovations in a bid to brace for the renaissance of the nuclear power industry. Global experts related to the nuclear power industry will get together to promote brisk exchange of the latest technologies and future development directions on such areas as the design, construction and operation of nuclear power plants.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), which is coordinating ICAPP 2005 in Seoul, supplies about 40 percent of the domestic power consumption as Korea's largest power utility company. KHNP has operated nuclear units at more than 90 percent of their capacity, surpassing about 15 percentage points more than the global power unit operation average. The Korean utility company is constructing Shinkori units 3 and 4, adopting APR1400, an advanced reaction system with more reliability and efficiency than the existing reactor developed with its own technology.
KHNP, armed with such a technological competitive edge, is now actively strengthening its presence in the overseas nuclear power construction markets, said Shim, KHNP director, said. ICAPP 2005 is expected to serve as an opportunity for Korea not only to widen a platform for exporting its nuclear power technology but also to raise its standing in the global nuclear power industry by publicizing its excellent power operation capabilities and APR1400, he noted.
Playing host to an international conference is a project it will take more than one year to handle the process from selection of its venue to organizing it, and well-preparedness and scrupulous management are required since massive manpower is mobilized in such areas as project planning, Web site building, participant registration, accommodations, banquets, publications and protocol, the secretary-general said. Making organizing an international conference a success would bring about additional benefits - enhancing Korea's profile with participants having better impressions about Korea, and the Secretariat of the Organizing Committee of ICAPP 2005 has been making its utmost to hold the international conference and the 20th KAIF/KNS Annual Conference successfully, he said nw