Shin Hanul Unit 1 Completed 12 Years After Groundbreaking... Operation to Begin Mid-Month

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Shin Hanul Unit 1, located in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, will begin commercial operation in mid-this month after 12 years of construction.

KHNP Hanul Nuclear Power Headquarters announced on the 5th that it plans to hold a completion ceremony for Shin Hanul Unit 1 in mid-this month.

Shin Hanul Unit 1 is the 27th nuclear power plant to start commercial operation in Korea (25th excluding 2 permanently shut down units), a pressurized water reactor applying the Korean APR1400 with a generation capacity of 1400 megawatts (MW).

The government had earlier finalized the construction plan for Shin Hanul Units 1 and 2 in 2005, granting construction permission and completion in 2011. Construction began in April 2010 and was completed in April 2020, after 12 years. Last July, it obtained conditional operating permission and began fuel loading to the reactor, starting trial operation, but commercial operation was delayed due to the previous administration’s nuclear phase-out policy and strengthened safety measures.

The operation of Shin Hanul Unit 1 is expected to greatly help power supply and demand this winter.

The government forecasts that this winter’s peak power demand will reach 90.4 to 94.0 gigawatts (GW) around the third week of January next year (15th to 21st). With the commercial operation of Shin Hanul Unit 1, domestic power supply capacity is expected to increase by 5.5 GW to 109 GW compared to the previous year. In this case, the supply reserve margin is expected to increase to 15.8 to 18.6 GW.