KHNP Inaugurates Safety & Technology Division

Exec. VP Lee Tae-ho takes helm at division specializing in handling reinforced safety and technology development of atomic energy

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) has established a safety and technology division designed to deal exclusively with such responsibilities as reinforced safety and technology development of atomic energy in reaction to the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan.
The newly established Safety and Technology Division is comprised of the Safety Department and Crisis Management Office and Technology Planning Department through the reorganization of the existing Safety Technology Department and the Nuclear Power Policy Department. The new division is responsible for nuclear safety policy & safety evaluation, crisis management and technology planning & development. In particular, the new division has the Fukushima Response Task Force designed to systematically analyze the causes of the Japanese nuclear accident and take proper preventive measures.
The establishment of the Safety and Technology Division is expected to secure nuclear power safety and confidence in a more systematic fashion, KHNP officials said.
The Nuclear Engineering & Technology Institute is placed under the umbrella of the Safety and Technology Division to systematically assist in ensuring safety through R&D activities related to nuclear safety. The 107 researchers at the KEPCO Research Institute will be consolidated into the Nuclear Engineering & Technology Institute as part of the government's plan to unify research on nuclear power.
Lee Tae-ho, managing director of KHNP's Power Generation Department, was promoted to executive vice president and chief of the Safety and Technology Division in an extraordinary shareholders'meeting held in mid-June.
Lee said, I carry on my shoulders heavy responsibilities as the chief of the Safety and Technology Division, charged with nuclear safety and technology development amid calls for ramping up the safety of nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan and the government's unified policy on nuclear technology R&D. I will devote myself to establishing polices to ensure nuclear safety and to futuristic nuclear industry development strategies as well as taking countermeasures by taking advantage of the experiences and expertise we're so far accumulated.
He continued, As the name itself sums up, our division's top priority will be on enhancing nuclear safety. What we have to do urgently is to build a foundation for exporting the existing and new nuclear power units abroad through technology development to take a step forward toward the resurgence of nuclear power. We plan to attach top priority to meeting the demands of the government and organizations and shaking off all public misgivings by doing our utmost in ensuring nuclear safety. We'll redouble our efforts to build a platform to restore the once-blossoming resurgence of nuclear power and tide over the current nuclear power crisis by implementing a long-term perspective and macroscopic technology development polices, he said.
Lee held diverse KHNP positions including chief of the Nuclear Power Policy Department, Safety and Technology Department, Maintenance & Planning Department and Power Generation Department. I feel lucky to have accumulated diverse and precious experiences, and I'll devote myself to making KHNP a great company by making the most of the field experiences I?e had in making major decisions and setting the direction of implementation, he said.
He said he is still proud of playing his part in having established the first national energy master plan in August 2008 despite strong opposition from anti-nuclear power NGOs and environmental organizations since Korea had no long-term energy visions beyond 20 years. Government, industry, research and NGO circles went through hotly-contested debates on the nation's energy security, economic efficiency, climate change pacts and greenhouse gas emission reductions and hardships to iron out the long-term energy policies.
Lee says he has maintained the tenet of ?oing my best and making myself ready for anything's in his 33-year career.
The latest Japanese nuclear accident has roiled the global energy policy ecosystem.
The accident has brought about many lessons for us, the operator of nuclear power units in the 21st century, and we have to throw our heart and soul into carrying out a top-safety management regime by reflecting on the past on our own and recognizing environmental changes.
It is up to you to translate crisis into opportunity in order to be reborn as a world-class power company, and I urge you to do your part in your positions and to become the ones to be prepared to seize opportunities whenever you can, he said. nw

Lee Tae-ho, executive vice president and chief of KHNP's Safety and Technology Division

Photo on Courtesy of KHNP