From left: Doosan Enerbility President Jung Yeon-in, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power CEO Whang Joo-ho during a signing ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in central Seoul, Wednesday [YONHAP]
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility signed a 2.9 trillion won ($2.3 billion) component supply agreement for the 10-year construction of Shin-Hanul 3 and 4, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday.
The Shin-Hanul 3 and 4 are two additional nuclear power plants to be built at the Shin-Hanul complex in Uljin, North Gyeongsang.
Doosan Enerbility will manufacture and supply key components for the nuclear plants such as reactors, steam generators and turbine generators for the next 10 years to KHNP.
State-run KHNP plans to place about 1.4 trillion won worth of orders in the next 3 years.
Doosan Enerbility has already lodged 45-billion-won of orders with its subcontractors, and plans to make additional 210-billion-won order this year.
The Shin-Hanul 3 and 4 construction project is currently undergoing an environmental impact assessment, which is scheduled to be completed in the first half of the year.
The goal is to start construction in 2024. Shin-Hanul Unit 3 will be completed by 2032 and Unit 4 by 2033.
The construction of the two reactors was suspended under the Moon Jae-in government, which pushed for phasing out nuclear energy citing safety concerns.
The government also introduced its plan to achieve 5 trillion won of exports of nuclear reactor parts and foster 100 small- and mid-sized local nuclear export companies by 2027.
Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry announced on Wednesday that the Kori 2 nuclear reactor — Korea’s third nuclear reactor, which began commercial operations in 1983 — will halt operations for 2 years, as the operation permission for the plant expires on April 8.
The extension of the permission, which requires a safety assessment from the regulators and facility improvements, should have been started about 3 to 4 years ago to continue operation without temporary suspension, according to the ministry.
The Kori 2 plant will restart operation in June 2025. As nuclear power is cheaper than other energy sources, the suspension is expected to cost an additional $1.17 billion per year if nuclear power generated by the Kori 2 is replaced with liquefied natural gas.
Source: Korea Joong Ang Daily