OPR-1000
The OPR-1000 is a South Korean designed two-loop 1000 MWe PWR Generation II nuclear reactor, developed by KHNP and KEPCO.[1] The OPR-1000 was originally designated as the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP), and was re-designated as the OPR-1000 in 2005 for foreign sales.[2] It was developed based partly on the Combustion Engineering (C-E) designs, through a technology transfer agreement. The reactor core design was derived from the C-E designed Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2, the nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) was derived from the C-E designed units at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and auxiliary plant design was derived from the earlier Unit-1 and Unit-2 at the Yeonggwang (now Hanbit) Nuclear Power Plant.[3]
Based on the OPR-1000 design, KEPCO has developed a Generation III+ uprated plant, the APR-1400.[4]
Reactor fleet
The reference plants used to develop the OPR-1000 design using technology transfer are Yeonggwang (now Hanbit) Unit-3 and Unit-4, which came on-line in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The first plants designated as OPR-1000 plants are Ulchin (now Hanul) Unit-3 and Unit-4, which came on-line in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) states an improved OPR-1000 design has been implemented at eight units:
- Hanbit Unit-5 and Unit-6 (both on-line in 2002)
- Hanul Unit-5 (on-line in 2004) and Unit-6 (on-line in 2005)
- Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit-1 (on-line in 2011) and Unit-2 (on-line in 2012)
- Shin-Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant Unit-1 (on-line in 2012) and Unit-2 (on-line in 2015)
Including the reference Unit-3 and Unit-4 at Hanbit (formerly Yeonggwang), there are a total of twelve OPR-1000 plants, all inside South Korea.[5]
Site | Unit | Status | Construction Start |
First Criticality |
Operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hanbit | 3[a] | operational | 23 December 1989 | 13 October 1994 | 31 March 1995 |
4[a] | operational | 26 May 1990 | 7 July 1995 | 1 January 1996 | |
5[b] | operational | 29 June 1997 | 24 November 2001 | 21 May 2002[c] | |
6[b] | operational | 20 November 1997 | 1 September 2002 | 24 December 2002[c] | |
Hanul | 3 | operational | 21 July 1993 | 21 December 1997 | 11 August 1998 |
4 | operational | 1 November 1993 | 14 December 1998 | 31 December 1999 | |
5[b] | operational | 1 October 1999 | 28 November 2003 | 29 July 2004 | |
6[b] | operational | 29 September 2000 | 16 December 2004 | 22 April 2005 | |
Shin-Kori | 1[b] | operational | 16 June 2006 | 15 July 2010 | 28 February 2011[d] |
2[b] | operational | 5 June 2007 | 27 December 2011 | 20 July 2012[d] | |
Shin-Wolsong | 1[b] | operational | 20 November 2007 | 6 January 2012 | 31 July 2012[d] |
2[b] | operational | 23 September 2008 | 8 February 2015[e] | 24 July 2015 |
Notes
The first plants incorporating the APR-1400 design are still under construction. Ten units are planned:
- Unit-1 and Unit-2 at Shin Hanul Nuclear Power Plant in South Korea
- Unit-3, -4, -5 and -6 at Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant in South Korea
- Unit-1, -2, -3 and -4 at Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates.[8]
History
The first start of the OPR-1000 at Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit-1 was 28 February 2011.
This OPR-1000's first malfunction was noted on 2 October 2012 at 8:10 a.m. Shin Kori-1 was shut down after a warning signal indicated a malfunction in the control rod, which is used to control the rate of fission of nuclear materials, according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. It is the first time that reactor, located 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, has been shut down due to a malfunction since it began commercial operation on 28 Feb. 2011. An investigation was undertaken to verify the exact cause of the problem.[9]
In 2012, a probe was opened regarding some fraudulently-certified parts installed in five OPR-1000 reactors over a ten-year period.[6] Hanbit-5 and -6, which had a greater number of fraudulent parts, were shut down until the parts could be replaced, and Hanbit-3 and -4 and Hanul-3 were allowed remain on-line pending parts replacement.[6] Hanbit-5 and -6 were cleared for restart in early 2013,[10] but in April 2013, following a tip, four additional units were shut down and not allowed to restart until fraudulently-certified safety-related control cabling was replaced: Shin Kori-1 and -2 and Shin Wolsong-1 and -2; although construction on Shin Wolsong-2 was complete, it had not yet achieved operational status, and it was not allowed to start up until cabling was replaced.[7] The same cabling was used at the APR-1400 units then under construction at Shin Kori (Units 3 & 4),[7] forcing a year-long delay in their startup.[11] After cabling was replaced, Shin Kori-1 and -2 and Shin Wolsong-1 were approved for restart in January 2014.[12] Shin Wolsong-2 was connected to the grid in February 2015,[13] with commercial operation commencing in July 2015.[14]
See also
References
- ^ "OPR1000". KEPCO. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ Goldberg, Stephen; Rosner, Robert (2011). Nuclear Reactors: Generation to Generation (PDF). American Academy of Arts & Sciences. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-87724-090-7. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
- ^ Kim, Han Gon (4 July 2011). "GEN III/GENIII+ : Korean Perspective - APR1400" (PDF). Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ Lee, Sang-Seob; Kim, Sung-Hwan; Suh, Kune-Yull (October 2009). "The Design Features of the Advanced Power Reactor 1400" (PDF). Nuclear Engineering and Technology. 41 (8): 995–1004. doi:10.5516/NET.2009.41.8.995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Korea, Republic of". IAEA Power Reactor Information System. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Korea probes forged quality certificates". World Nuclear News. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "New component issues idle Korean reactors". World Nuclear News. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Nuclear Power in the United Arab Emirates". World Nuclear Association. December 2013.
- ^ "Nuclear reactor halts operation due to malfunction". Yonhap News. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "South Korean units restart after probe". World Nuclear News. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Recabling delays Shin Kori start ups". World Nuclear News. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Korean reactors cleared for restart". World Nuclear News. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Grid connection for South Korean reactor". World Nuclear News. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "South Korean reactor enters commercial operation". World Nuclear News. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.