"Improvement of the Continued Operation System for Nuclear Power Plants... Cooperation with Czech Republic on Nuclear Power Regulation"

NSSC to Pursue Institutional Improvements
for Continued Operation of Nuclear Power Plants
and Establish Continuous Inspection System

The 206th meeting of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission is being held on the 9th. January 9, 2025. Provided by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) will undertake institutional improvements this year regarding the continued operation of nuclear power plants. It also plans to reorganize the regulatory system for continuous inspections of nuclear power plants. On the 21st, the NSSC announced its "2025 Major Work Plan" containing these details.

This year, the NSSC plans to prepare detailed operational measures for the continuous inspection system of operating nuclear power plants, which will be fully implemented from 2027. Continuous inspection refers to conducting regular inspections not only when a nuclear power plant is shut down for maintenance but also while it is in operation, and it will be applied to all nuclear power plants starting in 2027.

Prior to this, the NSSC has been piloting continuous inspections since April last year at Saeul Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 in Uljin, Ulsan. Conducting continuous inspections allows sufficient inspection time to thoroughly verify safety. This year, the NSSC plans to establish in-depth inspection procedures to be conducted when abnormal signs or peculiarities are detected at the power plants, including measures to enhance the effectiveness of inspections.

To effectively verify the safety of nuclear power plants under continued operation, improvements to the continued operation system will also be pursued. The NSSC will revise the evaluation items and procedures for assessing the safety of continued operation and require operators to provide explanatory documents written in an easily understandable manner regarding radiation impacts from continued operation to residents around the nuclear power plants. Plans also include holding online public hearings for local residents.

The NSSC will review the necessity of institutional improvements related to continued operation, such as evaluation items and procedures for safety verification, by collecting overseas cases, expert opinions, and safety verification methods. In South Korea, the design life of nuclear power plants is 30 to 40 years. Under the Nuclear Safety Act, plants can operate for an additional 10 years after safety approval from the NSSC. Accordingly, the nuclear industry and academia are requesting an extension of the continued operation license period from 10 to 20 years, similar to the United States and other countries.

Last year, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power applied to the NSSC for continued operation of 10 nuclear power plants (Kori Units 2?4, Hanbit Units 1 and 2, Hanul Units 1 and 2, and Wolsong Units 2?4) whose design lives will expire by 2030.

The standard design approval for the export-type reactor model (APR1000), which South Korea is promoting for export to the Czech Republic, will also proceed this year. In this regard, close cooperation will be maintained, including establishing specific cooperation matters with the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB).

A review system to verify the safety of the innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR) design, currently being developed at the national level, will also be established. Since small modular reactors (SMRs) have design characteristics different from large nuclear power plants, appropriate regulatory standards and technologies will be prepared before the expected i-SMR standard design approval application in 2026.

A mid- to long-term plan will also be established for the licensing system to prepare for the construction of SMRs, which have not been commercialized domestically, and for the development of new concepts of non-light water reactors (such as high-temperature gas reactors and molten salt reactors) that do not use water as a coolant.

Additionally, the NSSC will initiate health impact surveys to understand the radiation effects on residents around nuclear power plants and establish an information-sharing system with Taiwan to monitor and proactively respond to the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima. Communication measures will also be developed, such as utilizing the regional field command center as a place to share safety information with nearby residents.