Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. is pushing to enter the U.S. nuclear dismantling market with the..

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. is pushing to enter the U.S. nuclear dismantling market with the goal of next year. KHNP, which has been speeding up the ‘nuclear renaissance’ with its recent Czech nuclear power plant orders, has challenged the global nuclear dismantling market as promising as nuclear power plant construction. However, in Korea, the dismantling of nuclear power plants is still in its infancy, and it is pointed out that if KHNP is to target the global dismantling market, the dismantling process of Gori No. 1, which is currently permanently suspended, should speed up.

According to the public institution’s management information disclosure system on the 8th, KHNP recently announced that it will enter the U.S. nuclear dismantlement market next year. KHNP plans to enter the U.S. market based on research partnership cooperation with research institutes under the U.S. Department of Energy. Currently, research institutes and research projects under the Ministry of Energy are being drawn up.

Nuclear dismantling refers to the activities of permanently closing facilities and removing land at the end of the period of use of nuclear power plants. Generally, procedures such as preparation for dismantling, permanent suspension of operation, decontamination and cutting work, demolition, and restoration of land are performed. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as of the end of 2022, 204 permanent stationary nuclear power plants were installed. Of these, only 21 nuclear power plants have been dismantled, and the size of the nuclear power plant dismantling market is expected to grow in the future. By 2145, the global nuclear dismantling market is expected to reach 500 trillion won.

In particular, the United States has 41 permanent stationary nuclear power plants, and only 16 of them have been dismantled. It is the largest market for the nuclear dismantling project.

KHNP is working on technology development by focusing on dismantling nuclear power plants as a future food sector. KHNP and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute have secured 96 dismantling technologies by 2021. Among them, 58 commercialization technologies secured by KHNP are estimated to be up to 87% compared to advanced countries. In addition, KHNP is seeking to secure the world’s first technology to dismantle a nuclear power plant in a commercial heavy water reactor. Information and communication technology (ICT)-based convergence dismantling technology is also being developed.

KHNP has also established partnerships with global nuclear power plant companies such as Orano in France and Kinetrix in Canada. Personnel exchanges are underway to send KHNP personnel to overseas nuclear dismantling sites to acquire experience in dismantling. Through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) dismantling cooperation program, dismantling information exchange and joint technology development projects are also underway.

However, it is analyzed that KHNP needs to build a “track record” in order to enter the global nuclear dismantling market. KHNP has no experience in dismantling nuclear power plants. This is because the approval of the dismantling of Gori-1 plant, which was first permanently suspended in Korea, has been delayed and the dismantling of nuclear power plants has been delayed.

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission has been reviewing the dismantling of Gori-1 since January 2022. The approval for the dismantling of Gori-1, which was permanently suspended, was initially expected to take place last year, but was delayed. The goal is to approve it in the first half of this year.

In May last year, KHNP started decontamination work, which is a preliminary work for approval of dismantling at Gori Unit 1. Decontamination is the work of removing radioactive substances remaining in nuclear power plants with chemicals. If it is approved for dismantling, KHNP plans to sell idle facilities and carry out the demolition of asbestos and thermal materials first. Currently, a survey on the status of asbestos is being conducted prior to asbestos removal work.

After the removal of asbestos, KHNP will begin dismantling the interior and outdoor facilities of the non-managed area. After that, when a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel is established at the Gori headquarters, spent nuclear fuel stored in a wet storage tank in the power plant will be released. Finally, the dismantling of Gori Unit 1 is completed when the demolition work is carried out inside the management area and the structure.

Analysts say that the process of dismantling such spent nuclear fuel is the key to entering the nuclear dismantling market in the future. It is predicted that it will take four to five years to build a nuclear fuel storage facility after using Gori No. 1.

Chung Dong-wook, a professor of energy system engineering at Chung-Ang University, said, “In order to enter the nuclear dismantling market and increase added value, we need to build dry storage facilities quickly to remove spent nuclear fuel and build track records related to dismantling primary systems such as nuclear reactors.”