Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant

The Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant is a large nuclear power station in the Jeollanam-do province of South Korea. The facility runs at an installed capacity of 5,875 MW. The power station is currently ranked as the fifth largest nuclear power station in the world. The plant's name was changed from Yeonggwang NPP to Hanbit in 2013 at the request of local fishermen.[1]

Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant
Hanbit (formerly Yonggwang) Nuclear Power Plant
Map
Official name한빛원자력발전소
한빛原子力發電所
CountrySouth Korea
LocationJeollanam-do
Coordinates35°24′54″N 126°25′26″E / 35.41500°N 126.42389°E / 35.41500; 126.42389
StatusOperational
Commission date1986
OperatorKorea Hydro & Nuclear Power
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Power generation
Units operational1 × 947 MW
1 × 953 MW
1 × 988 MW
1 × 994 MW
1 × 996 MW
1 × 997 MW
Nameplate capacity5,875 MW
External links
Websiteyk.khnp.co.kr
CommonsRelated media on Commons

All the units at Hanbit are of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) reactor type. Unit-1 and Unit-2 are 3-loop Westinghouse-designed plants; major components were sourced from foreign firms while auxiliary components and site construction were handled domestically. Unit-3 and Unit-4 are 2-loop Combustion Engineering (C-E) System 80 plants with major components and construction handled domestically under a technology transfer agreement. Unit-5 and Unit-6 are based on the Ulchin (now Hanul) Unit-3 OPR-1000 Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant design.[2][3]

Unit Type Net Capacity Construction start Operation start Notes
Hanbit-1 WH F 959 04 Jun 1981 25 Aug 1986 [4]
Hanbit-2 WH F 958 10 Dec 1981 10 Jun 1987 [5]
Hanbit-3 OPR-1000 998 23 Dec 1989 31 Mar 1995 [6]
Hanbit-4 OPR-1000 997 26 May 1990 01 Jan 1996 [7]
Hanbit-5 OPR-1000 993 29 Jun 1997 21 May 2002 [8]
Hanbit-6 OPR-1000 993 20 Nov 1997 24 Dec 2002 [9]

Incidents

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In November 2012 security checkups prompted by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster revealed that from 2003 eight suppliers had forged quality certificates for a delivered 7,682 items to the plant. Of the plant's six reactors two were affected by more than 5,000 of those parts and were consequently shut down, for an expected eight weeks. According to Yonhap news agency the incident was likely to seriously undermine the confidence in South Korean nuclear reactors and could thus impede the country's export of nuclear power plants. Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo responded that the "government plans to further increase its efforts to export nuclear reactors. In this regard, the government will quickly provide all necessary and accurate facts to prospective foreign buyers to make sure there is not a single shred of doubt left over the safety of the country's nuclear reactors".[10]

A serious transient incident[11] occurred in Hanbit 1 May 10,2019 during low power test. Under the circumstances power was not allowed to exceed 5 percent of full power, but due to mis-calculation and careless withdrawal of control rods, and also one rod in stuck position, the power went up to 18 per cent. The incident was classified as INES level 2.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Korean nuclear plants renamed". World Nuclear News. World Nuclear Association (WNA). 21 May 2013. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  2. ^ Nuclear power stations in South Korea Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine IAEA.
  3. ^ "Yonggwang Nuclear Power Complex (영광 원자력발전소)". Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  4. ^ "Hanbit-1". Power Reactor Information System (PRIS). International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  5. ^ "Hanbit-2". PRIS. IAEA. 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  6. ^ "Hanbit-3". PRIS. IAEA. 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  7. ^ "Hanbit-4". PRIS. IAEA. 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  8. ^ "Hanbit-5". PRIS. IAEA. 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  9. ^ "Hanbit-6". PRIS. IAEA. 7 Jan 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 Jan 2014.
  10. ^ Gayathri, Amrutha (2012-11-05). "South Korea Shuts Down Nuclear Reactors Due To Unqualified Parts, Warns Of Power Shortages". ibtimes.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  11. ^ "NEWS".