KEPCO Committed to Making UAE Project a Success

Strives to come forth as a global player to tap renaissance of global nuclear power industry

"In cooperation of the government, Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and related outfits in the Korean nuclear power industry have been in high gear to secure untapped key nuclear technologies to become the global top four nuclear powerhouse by 2012,” KEPCO Executive Vice President Byun Jun-yeon in charge of overseas business said in an interview he had on the occasion of the government’s designation of Dec. 27 as Nuclear Power Day in connection with the nation’s nuclear power deal with the United Arab Emirates. The following are excerpts of the interview between NewsWorld and KEPCO Executive Vice President Byun, who touched on the ongoing nuclear power project in the United Arab Emirates and future technology development plans.
Question: Will you tell our readers about the current status of a project to build nuclear power units in the United Arab Emirates and future plans?
Answer: KEPCO has made full-fledged preparations for timely making nuclear power units for the United Arab Emirates following the deal, signed last Dec. 27. The planned nuclear power complex will be located at the Braka area, some 270 km west of the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi.
The UAE nuclear power project is worth a huge roughly 21 trillion won. The deal calls for KEPCO to not only construct four APR1400 units, 1400MW-class Korean-type model, but also provide nuclear fuel for five years after completion and support for 10-year operation and maintenance technology. According to the construction schedule, the first unit is to be inaugurated on May 1, 2017, and three others will be completed at an interval of one year by 2020.

KEPCO has signed contracts with power companies, firms and subcontractors so as to make the project a success. KEPCO and its cooperative companies have established hundreds of guidelines and procedures. Work is now done for leveling site ground, workers’ living quarters and construction site offices, and they have also already launched work on breakwater, intake and drainage waterways.
Together with the construction of nuclear power units, Korea is also devoting itself to forging bilateral partnership. UAE senior officials, including UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, visited Korea and discussed with Korean government officials ways of further promoting bilateral exchanges so far this year. While touring the nation’s nuclear power facilities, they showed their trust in Korea’s nuclear technological power. Both countries have made flat-out efforts to further develop amicable bilateral ties, as this past July and August, 50 science school students from the UAE attended an educational program on nuclear power fundamentals at Sudo Electric Technical High School.
Q: Will you expound major plans during next year?
A: Major work is going to be fully launched at the Braka site for next year: initially, construction equipment and materials will be shipped, wharfs for unloading will be constructed and breakwater, intake water and drainage waterways works will be done in earnest.
The first phase of a project for a living quarters accommodating approximately 1,000 construction crew members is to be complete by next March. According to a manpower input plan, the living quarters will be expanded into one enough to house 10,000 occupants at the peak time around 2016.
Another major work, to be conducted in 2011, is to acquire a permit on the construction of nuclear power units. KEPCO plans to submit by the end of this year an application on the license on the construction to the project owner, which then will file it to UAE regulatory authorities for approval. After that, the UAE government will issue a green light on construction. The permission on construction will be required to be obtained by the end of June 2012, then initial concrete placing and work on structures will be followed the next month.
The possibility Korean can land additional orders on nuclear power orders from the UAE will hinge on whether the ongoing UAE nuclear power project is dedicated on schedule or not. Recognizing the fact, KEPCO will do its best in successfully accomplishing the UAE project and utilizing it as a good opportunity to nourish the nuclear power industry as a new national growth engine by showing off its technological power.
Q: What’s your assessment of the current status of the domestic nuclear power industry and prospects?
A: Korea has introduced nuclear power units to cope with a surge in electricity demand in the 1970s and the worsening dependence on energy imports, caused by a dearth of resources. The nation has now 20 units in operation, accounting for roughly 34 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation amounts to rank fifth in terms of nuclear power generation in the world after the United States, France, Japan and Russia.
The national energy master plan, established by the government, stipulates that atomic energy should be considered as a key energy source under the environmentally-friendly, green growth paradigm and the share of nuclear power in electricity generation should be raised from the current 34 percent to 59 percent by 2030. Currently, four Korean standard nuclear power plant OPR1000 units and four APR1400 units are under construction and 10 more will be online by 2030.
Specifically speaking, final touches are put on Shinkori OPR1000 Units No. 1&2 in start-up operation, while the construction of Shinwolsong Units No. 1&2 are in final stages. In September 2009, KHNP broke ground for Shinkori Units 3&4, being built with APR1400, and things go smooth with the construction progress standing at 62 percent. They each are to be dedicated in September 2013 and September 2014, setting the stage for serving role models and winning orders from foreign countries, including the UAE.
In the years to come, follow-up versions of APR1400 will be continuously constructed as Korea’s standard models. Eight nuclear power units ― Shinkori Units 3&4, Shinulchin Units 1&2, Shinkori Units 5&6 and Shinulchin 3&4 - are under construction or are to be constructed with APR1400 or updated versions in the government’s strategies to ensure environmentally-friendly, green growth.
Q: Will you introduce the current status of Korea’s nuclear power technology development and future plans?
A: Korea inaugurated Yongkwang Nuclear Power Units 3&4 in 1995, achieving the technological self-sufficiency rate of 95 percent, completed APR1400, an upgraded home-grown model verified in safety and performance, in 2002 and finally made a feast by exporting nuclear power units to the UAE last year for the first time in its history of nuclear energy. Korea has developed nuclear operation technology and built systems, including accident emergency response systems, and create culture for enhancing awareness toward safety operation of nuclear units in order to make nuclear power units in operation safer. These efforts have led to raising the capacity factor ratio to over 90 percent to rank top in the world in terms of nuclear facility utilization.
In cooperation of the government, KEPCO and related outfits in the Korean nuclear power industry have been in high gear to secure untapped key nuclear technologies to become the global top four nuclear powerhouse by 2012. They have been striving to further enhance the nation’s competitive edge by developing Man-Machine Interface System, the reactor coolant pump and cored design cord. Korea has been focusing on exporting nuclear power units overseas through strategies tailored to meet market demand based on accumulate technology and the development of maintenance/operation technology so as to tap the newly ballooning global nuclear power market. Korea has been working on developing export models of APR1400, seeking to gain the design certification of APR1400 from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and launching the EU-APR1400 project to obtain the Europe design certificate, as well as the implementation of the SMART project to commercialize small-size nuclear unit-cum-desalination plants.
In an effort to secure its international standing as the global top three nuclear powerhouse through continuous and leading technology development and become a leading player in the global nuclear power market, the government and the domestic nuclear power industry is going to establish the Ne-tech 2030, calling for a new nuclear power development plan by 2030, focusing on core technology of new nuclear power models,; nuclear fuel and key equipment and parts development,; advancement of construction technology,; new nuclear power safety and operation technology,; and environmentally-frineldy nuclear power technology.
Korea, which has introduced APR1400, is working on APR+ on the first public-private partnership (PPP) project and will develop a new concept brand nuclear power model under the second PPP project.
In addition, the nation is actively engaged in the development of fourth-generation nuclear power technologies based on nuclear fuel reuse and nuclear nonproliferation, including Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) and Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) as well as nuclear fuel cycle-related technologies. nw

KEPCO Executive Vice President Byun Jun-yeon in charge of overseas business