KHNP: Safety is
Foremost Thing

CEO Kim announces management policies, including strategic overseas nuclear power project exploration

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) will make its foremost management priority to ensure the safety of nuclear power.
KHNP President and CEO Kim Jong-shin has announced management policies and priorities for the company during 2008 -- the foremost priorities being safety, the creation of future growth engines and harmony-oriented management. He held up such specific tools as the establishment of a risk surveillance system and a safety appraisal mechanism, the implementation of strategic overseas nuclear power projects and customer-oriented ethical management.
The foremost thing KHNP will do during the year is to secure the world's top-rated safety for nuclear power, step up planned outage maintenance activities to minimize sudden power outages, improve the performance of decrepit equipment and components and ensure the timely management of low- and intermediate-level radwaste and used nuclear fuel.
KHNP will strive to continuously push companywide management innovation by assimilating the so-called BEST KHNP Campaign.
It will try to establish an integrated performance management system designed to secure global competitiveness through management innovation, institutional innovation, the sharing of in-house innovation outcomes and the setting up of a reward system.
It will push the construction of new nuclear units without a hitch to expand its power facility capacity, secure sustainable energy supply through the implementation of new and renewable energy projects and make thorough preparations for the timely construction of the planned Woelseong Nuclear Power Environment Management Center, a low- and intermediate-level radwaste facility project.
A KHNP official said the National Energy Commission is expected to approve the long-term nuclear power plan after holding a public hearing on climate change and ways of treating used nuclear fuel. The facility construction project, which broke ground this past November,
has suffered a setback as the act on the construction of the radwaste treatment center is still pending approval in the National Assembly.
In an effort to accelerate its overseas market exploration, KHNP has taken pains to concentrate targets, manage risks, diversify projects, build up collaboration among related institutions and secure flexible countermeasures for each project. It is seeking to land an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order on the construction of the Cherna Voda Units 3 and 4 in Romania.
Recently, KHNP has launched a project to build Shinkori nuclear power units Nos. 3 and 4, which will adopt the Generation III nuclear reactor system, considered safe, economically efficient and proliferation-resistant. If and when the projected nuclear units are completed, Korea will become the third country in the world to adopt the Generation III nuclear reactor system, APR-1400 (Advanced Power Reactor).
Finally, KHNP will strive to build the public consensus and community acceptance of nuclear power and promote exchanges with Korean and foreign-related organizations. It plans to establish its corporate image as an environmental-friendly and future-oriented corporation while developing a co-prosperity model between each nuclear power complex and its neighboring community.
Kim said in a New Year's speech at a ceremony on Jan. 2 at the company's headquarters, "KHNP will step on the gas to ensure sustainable management and competitiveness by securing the safety of nuclear power and the reliability of equipment and facilities with the goal of evolving into a global energy leader."He said that KHNP will be committed to the construction of nuclear power units, including Shinkori Units 1 to 4, Shinwolsong Units 1 and 2 and Shin-ulchin Units 1 and 2, and will meet the people's expectations by building the world's top-rated safe and reliable radwaste treatment facility.
Meanwhile, in his New Year message, the KHNP CEO looked back at 2007 as a year in which the company achieved more than expected in several areas despite difficulties.
Last year KHNP was engaged in the safety-related operations of nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, broke ground for the construction of a radwaste treatment center and accelerated projects to build new nuclear units. Meanwhile, it completed fueling for the continual operation of Kori Nuclear Unit 1, Korea's first nuclear power unit, which was permitted to prolong its lifespan for another 10 years after its 30-year design life expired.
The achievements were owed to his staff who completed their jobs according to management's goals, said Kim, adding, "For this year, we have to take a dynamic step forward for the hopes of our future and advancement."Kim urged his staff to achieve the 2008 management goals, including the ones focused on raising the safety and reliability of power plants and to push ahead with projects to construct new nuclear power plants and a radwaste treatment facility, the subject of public attention, without a hitch. He added that they should pledge their resolve to fulfill these agreements on the
implementation of the projects with the goal of making it a company beloved by people.
The domestic nuclear power industry, which began with the inauguration of the Kori Unit 1 in 1977, sustained fast growth until the 1990s before undergoing a long correction period due to higher expectations and global antinuclear activities, Kim said. However, he said, global views about nuclear power have now changed and the Korean nuclear power industry is expected to make another leap forward during this renaissance of nuclear power due to a worsening of global warming and limits on alternative energy sources. nw

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. President and CEO Kim Jong-shin (inset) discloses 2008 management policies, including the creation of future growth engines.

(counterclockwise)A ribbon-cutting ceremony to resume the operation of Kori Nuclear Unit 1 after the expiration of its 30-year design life,; A ceremony to launch the construction of the Shinkori Units 1 to 4,; and KHNP CEO Kim Jong-shin explains the safety of Kori Unit 1 to visitors.