Decommissioning of oldest Korean reactor approved

Kori 1 started commercial operation in 1978. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced in August 2015 it had withdrawn its application to extend the unit's operating licence and in June 2016 it applied to decommission the reactor. The permanent shutdown of Kori 1 was approved by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission a year later. The 576 MWe pressurised water reactor was permanently shut down on 18 June 2017 and KHNP was required to submit a decommissioning plan for the unit within five years of its closure.

KHNP submitted its application to dismantle the unit to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) in May 2021.

The NSSC has now said it has "reviewed the application documents, including the final decommissioning plan, based on the results of the safety review by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) and the preliminary review by the Nuclear Safety Expert Committee, and confirmed that the decommissioning of Kori unit 1 satisfied the technical standards according to the Nuclear Safety Act, and approved the decommissioning".

"Considering that Gori unit 1 is the first nuclear power plant decommissioning case in Korea, we conducted a detailed review of all evaluation items," said NSSC Chairman Choi Won-ho. "We will closely inspect the decommissioning process to ensure that the public can feel safe even during decommissioning, and we plan to transparently disclose the inspection results."

KHNP said, following the approval, it will "begin full-scale decommissioning procedures" at the unit. It added that "a new chapter in the history of domestic nuclear power plant decommissioning has opened".

The company said it plans to begin dismantling the facilities in the turbine building sequentially starting next month, and plans to remove the used nuclear fuel from the storage pool to an on-site dry storage facility in 2031, dismantle the radioactive system, and complete dismantling in 2037.

"The decommissioning of Kori unit 1 will be a turning point for internalising domestic decommissioning technology, fostering specialised personnel, and creating an industrial ecosystem beyond the simple demolition of equipment," said KHNP CEO Hwang Joo-ho. "We will transparently disclose the project process to the public and push forward the decommissioning project based on trust with the local community."

In September 2017, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute announced it had signed contracts with several domestic companies to develop technologies for decommissioning Kori 1. These included Kepco Plant Service & Engineering and Doosan, among others, to develop technologies for dismantling facilities and equipment, as well as land contamination measurement technology. The companies will also develop technologies for simulating the dismantling of the plant, chemical decontamination and waste disposal processes.