NUKE NEWS

Small is beautiful in South Korea’s pivot back to nuclear power

September 2, 2021
in Korea


SEOUL — South Korea has embraced mini reactors as part of the government’s approach to achieving carbon neutrality, even though the move backpedals from President Moon Jae-in’s earlier pledge to phase out nuclear power.

The small modular reactors, or SMRs, will be developed primarily at Munmu Daewang Science Research Center, which is scheduled to open in 2025 in the city of Gyeongju. The government earmarked 326.3 billion won ($281 million) for construction, and the whole project is expected to cost over $500 million.

“Our country will further develop nuclear technology as the driving force for energy and the economy,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at the groundbreaking ceremony in late July.

The complex will house 16 research facilities. Apart from SMRs, the research center will explore technology for storing nuclear waste and dismantling reactors.

A single SMR generates less than 5% of the electrical output of a conventional nuclear plant. This reactor is submerged in a pool of water, an arrangement deemed safer than that of regular reactors. SMRs also cut costs because critical components can be made at factories and assembled on site.

Russia has begun commercial operation of SMRs. The U.S. and U.K. are conducting research and development on the small-scale reactors. Last summer, a model from American startup NuScale Power won design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, which possesses the expertise to manufacture turbines and other SMR components, is participating in NuScale’s project. Seoul is tapping universities and state-affiliated research institutions to advance R&D into next-generation nuclear power.

But even if SMR technology is fully established, the government likely will spend much time negotiating with locals and acquiring land for the new reactors. Disposal of nuclear waste remains a challenge in South Korea, and safeguarding against terrorism will be imperative.

Moon won the presidency in 2017 in part by campaigning against nuclear power. Once in office, Moon said he would scrap plans to build nuclear plants and forbid aging facilities from prolonging operation.

But he backed away from those declarations after experts argued against the planned cancellations of plant projects already under construction. The administration also restarted plants that were suspended for inspections after businesses and consumers complained of tight power supplies and rate hikes.

South Korea’s nuclear plants operated at 67% of capacity in 2018 from over 80% prior to Moon’s inauguration in 2017. But the figure returned to 75% as of 2020.

Driving the government’s support for SMR research is the stated goal of attaining net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.

“We will have to make nuclear power a key source of energy for the next 60 years,” Kim said in a parliamentary debate in June.

Nuclear power accounted for 18.2% of South Korea’s energy mix last year, the third-largest category after liquefied natural gas at 32.3% and coal at 28.1%. Megasolar farms are unworkable because South Korea contains little flatland.

South Korea would “approach fantasy” if it expected to attain carbon neutrality while abandoning nuclear power, said Park Ju-heon, economics professor at Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul.

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Partners to study deployment of SMRs at Polish coal plant

01 September 2021

Polish chemicals group Synthos and energy group ZE PAK have signed an investment agreement to explore the construction of four to six BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) at the site of ZE PAK's Pątnów coal-fired power plant in central Poland. Synthos, which has exclusive rights in the country for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's (GEH's) small nuclear reactors, will participate in the project as both an investor and the technology provider.

The Pątnów I coal-fired power plant (Image: ZE PAK)

Under the agreement, the companies intend to cooperate by establishing a joint venture to carry out activities in the field of nuclear energy, in particular the construction of power generation units based on GEH's BWRX-300 reactor, or "other optimal American SMR technologies". The planned investment in SMR units will be located at the Pątnów plant site, which has been generating electricity from lignite from a nearby opencast mine for several decades. Last year, ZE PAK announced its exit from coal-fired power generation by 2030.

ZE PAK is owned by Zygmunt Solorz, one of the largest private investors in Poland, while Synthos is owned by Michał Sołowow, owner of the largest private industrial group in Central and Eastern Europe.

"For several years I have been betting on clean and zero-carbon energy," Solorz said. "Solar, wind, hydrogen and nuclear are the most important energy sources we are investing in. PAK is the first coal-fired power producer in Poland that not only says it has a plan to move away from coal, but is actually moving away from it ... Investment in the atom is a gigantic opportunity for Poland, its people and businesses to access clean and cheap energy. Poland needs diverse, ecological sources of electricity and heat, both for all individual and corporate consumers."

He added, "Poland is the manufacturing hub of Europe, which requires emission-free and stable sources of energy. If we want to continue developing at a fast pace and become a more affluent society, and attract further foreign investment to us, we must have access to attractively priced energy."

ZE PAK CEO Piotr Woźny noted that the Pątnów site is also listed as a potential site for large nuclear power reactors in the government's Polish Nuclear Power Programme. "Our plans are not in competition with those of the state," he said. "SMRs will not replace the state's large-scale power generation, but they may be an excellent supplement to it and gradually replace some of the power generated from fossil fuels, and in the near future they may help compensate for the lack of available capacity in the power system, resulting from the decommissioning of subsequent coal-fired units and increasing demand for electricity."

GEH said: "We applaud this announcement and fully support the vision to replace coal with carbon-free nuclear generation. We agree that the BWRX-300 small modular reactor is ideally suited for this application and we look forward to broadening our partnership with Synthos Green Energy to help Poland achieve its decarbonisation goals."

In June, Synthos and petrochemical firm PKN Orlen agreed to cooperate on micro modular reactors and SMRs. Under an agreement, both companies will jointly carry out research and explore the feasibility of deploying such reactors at Orlen's production plants in Poland.

In 2019, Synthos Green Energy - part of the Synthos Group - signed a cooperation agreement with GEH for the construction of the BWRX-300 reactor in Poland. The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems, based on GEH's US-licensed, 1520 MWe Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor design. Synthos in October last year began a regulatory dialogue with the Polish National Atomic Energy Agency on the possibility of building the BWRX-300 in Poland, with the support of US utility Exelon Generation, GEH and Finland's Fortum Power and Heat Oy.

Synthos announced in December 2020 the completion of a deployment feasibility study for the implementation of a fleet of GEH BWRX-300 SMRs in Poland. The study, which was prepared by Exelon, covers the analysis of key aspects of SMR technology implementation, including cost issues, personnel policy, regulatory and security issues, construction models and operational issues.

In November 2020, Synthos also signed a cooperation agreement with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), which is developing the high-temperature gas-cooled Micro Modular Reactor, or MMR. USNC and Synthos jointly applied to the Polish Ministry of Development for financing from the IPCEI mechanism (Important Projects of Common European Interest) for projects within the scope of the value chain of hydrogen technologies and systems. The goal of the joint project is the development of an economically efficient, zero-emission, high-temperature heat and power source for the production of hydrogen on an industrial scale.

US-Ukrainian energy partnership foresees five new reactors

01 September 2021

Ukraine and the USA have agreed to "deepen and intensify" their strategic cooperation in energy. Nuclear power leads a suite of agreements with a project to complete Khmelnitsky unit 4, followed up with four new AP1000 units at a total value of USD30 billion.

Jennifer Granholm and Herman Halushchenko sign to increase US-Ukrainian cooperation in Washington DC in the presence of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (Image: DOE)

Agreements signed in Washington DC yesterday signalled "a new chapter of climate and energy cooperation with Ukraine," US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. Her counterpart, the energy minister of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko, said, "We have common goals, among which the key is the decarbonisation of the energy sector and the achievement of a high level of energy security and stability in Eastern Europe."

The countries signed a joint statement on enhancing bilateral energy and climate cooperation during a visit to the USA by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. It states: "The participants intend to work to decarbonise Ukraine's economy and ensure its energy security and export potential by developing and implementing a comprehensive energy sector plan, one that provides for mutually beneficial cooperation in nuclear energy, solar and wind energy, hydrogen, energy storage, carbon capture utilisation and storage, cyber and physical security, and other supply and demand-side technologies."

New reactors

Key to achieving these joint goals will be the expansion of nuclear power in Ukraine by way of a project between US technology and reactor vendor Westinghouse and Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom. A Memorandum of Cooperation between them was signed by Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and CEO, and Petro Kotin, acting president of Energoatom.

As a "pilot project", Energoatom and Westinghouse envisage jointly completing the fourth reactor at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. This reactor started out as a VVER design reactor in 1987, but construction stalled at 28% completion and Ukraine has wanted to finish it for many years. The companies plan to complete it "using AP1000 technology" but did not explain how the two very different designs of pressurised water reactor would be combined.

Energoatom and Westinghouse also foresee four new AP1000 units being built at existing Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The total value of these and Khmelnitsky 4 is up to USD30 billion, according to their statements.

Westinghouse said the projects would "provide Energoatom and Ukraine with procurement, construction, licensing, operation, maintenance and localisation benefits." Halushchenko said, "Deepening Energoatom's partnership with Westinghouse will help strengthen our country's energy security. We will expand cooperation with the American company with a focus on energy security and independence of our state."

AP1000 units have a capacity of around 1150 MWe and five of them would take Ukraine's nuclear generation capacity from today's 13,100 MWe to 17,700 MWe. International Energy Agency figures for 2018 indicate that expansion on this scale could see nuclear providing as much as 72% of Ukraine's electricity and giving it the option to reduce the 31% it currently gets from coal or the 7% it gets from natural gas.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News