Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will establish measures to improve the safety of nuclear powe..

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will establish measures to improve the safety of nuclear power plant output control and speed up the establishment of a “nuclear power plant flexible operation” system. As the saturation of the power grid intensifies due to the recent surge in renewable energy facilities, the plan is to secure the stability of the power system by flexibly adjusting the amount of power generated by nuclear power plants, which are base power sources.

According to the nuclear industry on the 4th, KHNP plans to complete technology development to evaluate the impact of systems and facilities and strengthen the reliability of facilities by 2029. Output control refers to a reduction in power generation to prevent blackout when power supply exceeds demand. Until now, nuclear power plants have been considered a power source that is difficult to control flexibly due to the nature of maintaining constant output.

KHNP will precisely evaluate the impact of output control operation on major facilities over the next three years and strengthen necessary facilities. In particular, it plans to establish new optimal operating procedures that can occur in the event of output fluctuations and improve the facility management program altogether.

It will also strengthen its monitoring system to ensure nuclear fuel safety. By 2028, KHNP has decided to establish a system to constantly monitor ‘PCI’ (Pellet-Cladding Interaction), a collision between pellets (fuel) and cladding (protection officers). PCI can be caused by physical and chemical shocks in the process of frequent output adjustment, and it may lead to safety accidents such as radioactive leakage, so thorough management is required.

In addition, education and training and skill management will be continuously implemented in preparation for repetitive output adjustments. It is also building a driver support system to reduce nuclear power plant fatigue according to output control. Chung Dong-wook, a professor of energy system engineering at Chung-Ang University, said, “It is difficult to say that there is a great risk to safety just because nuclear power plants often follow load (operate to adjust the amount of power generated according to electricity demand),” adding, “However, in this case, drivers are nervous, so we want to increase the monitoring assistance that may occur so that they can follow the load smoothly.”

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