Kori Unit 2 to Be Shut down in 2 Years

Unit 2 of Kori Nuclear Power Plant

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has failed to apply for an extension of the life of Unit 2 of Kori Nuclear Power Plant, which expires on April 8, 2023.

Unit 2 of Kori Nuclear Power Plant will be shut down in two years from now due to the incumbent government’s nuclear phase-out policy. Under the Nuclear Safety Act, in order to extend the life of a power plant, a periodic safety assessment report on it must be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission two to five years prior to the expiration of its life. The deadline was April 8.

"We are unable to determine whether to continue operating Unit 2 of Kori Nuclear Power Plant as we have not prepared economic evaluation guidelines requested by the Board of Audit and Inspection,” said KHNP. “It is inappropriate to start a safety evaluation for a continued operation of the plant ahead of an economic evaluation.”

While announcing the results of a probe with regard to the early closure of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 in October 2020, the Board of Audit and Inspection told KHNP to make specific guidelines so that economic evaluations related to the continued operation of nuclear power plants can be carried out reasonably and objectively.

The Nuclear Safety Act stipulates that a safety evaluation report should be submitted two to five years before the expiration of a nuclear power plant’s design life in relation to continuous operation because it takes years to complete a safety evaluation and deliberation. In the case of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, it took about seven years to prepare a safety evaluation report and finally approve its continuous operation.

"There is no separately stipulated application deadline for the continuous operation of a nuclear power plant.” the Nuclear Safety Commission explained in this regard. Even if a nuclear power plant operator fails to submit an application form within the deadline, the operator will be fined 3 million won only and can apply for continuous operation." However, because it takes a long time to finish the process including a review, a continuous operation period extended by 10 years from the expiration of a power plant’s design life, will inevitably decrease significantly.

As a result, Unit 2 of Kori Nuclear Power Plant which had an average utilization rate of 78.6 percent over the past 10 years is likely to stop two years later, or even if its life span is extended, the operation period will several years at the longest.

"A nuclear power plant can run up to 60 to 80 years as long as safety is secured through regular repair and maintenance," experts say. "The government is putting a stop even to normal nuclear power plants while pushing ahead with its nuclear phase-out policy."

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