Nuclear Safety and Security Commission

The 178th Meeting of the Commission Was Held

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the "NSSC") held the 178th meeting of the Commission on June 8 (Thursday), 2023, where the commissioners deliberated and resolved one agenda item. 

Regarding the first item on the agenda for deliberation and resolution, the commissioners passed the「bill to modify the construction permit and operating license of nuclear facilities」, applied by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). This bill is about ❶ permission for the modification of the construction permit of Shinhanul Unit 2, to reflect changes in the quality assurance plan in which the construction quality control and assurance department responsible for Shinhanul Unit 2 underwent organizational change; and ❷ permission for the modification of the operating license for Hanbit Units 1 and 2, to change the form of the steam supply valve for the turbine-driven auxiliary feed water pumps. ❸ The modification of the operating license for Kori Units 3 and 4 was also submitted to upgrade the speed indication system to the digitized one, which is employed in the turbine-driven auxiliary feed water pumps in the main control room.

NSSC to Start Special Inspection of Nuclear Facilities for Summer

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson, Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the “NSSC”) will conduct a special inspection of nuclear facilities from June 5 to 9 to prevent accidents and failures in preparation for summer’s natural disasters, such as typhoons, heavy rainfalls, and lightning.

※ The NSSC held a meeting with the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to launch the special inspection on June 2.

This special inspection will be conducted on nuclear power plants and low-to mid-level radioactive waste disposal facility, etc., with 98 people from relevant agencies, such as the NSSC and 12 municipalities, including Gyeongju in Gyeongbuk Province and Gijang-gun in Busan, as well as Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control (KINAC).

The NSSC will mainly focus on and inspect preventative measures for flooding in individual equipment and strong wind to prevent recurrence by analyzing the previous damage cases* during summer.

* During the past 10 years, a total of ten damage cases of summer’s natural disasters (typhoons and flooding) were reported including a failure of power equipment.

The NSSC will also check the emergency response system of nuclear power licensees such as the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power in case damage occur.

The 177th Meeting of the Commission Was Held

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the "NSSC") held the 177th meeting of the Commission on May 25 (Thursday), 2023, where the commissioners deliberated and resolved one agenda item. 

Regarding the first item on the agenda for deliberation and resolution, the commissioners passed the「bill on the modification of a construction permit for nuclear facilities」after amending some parts, applied by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to reflect the design details of the emergency diesel generator (EDG) system confirmed during the construction process of Saeul Units 3 and 4.

Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake Struck Sea 52km Northeast of Donghae-si; NPP Is Operating Safely

Regarding the magnitude 4.5 earthquake that occurred at around 6:27 am on May 15 in the sea (31km deep) 52km Northeast of Donghae-si, Gangwon-do, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the “NSSC”) confirmed that there is no abnormality in the safety of nuclear power plants.

At the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant that is located closest to the epicenter (about 87.6km away from the location), an alarm was not set off because the measurements of seismic levels were less than the value set for an earthquake warning (0.01g). As a result of the emergency on-site safety inspection so far, it has been confirmed that there are neither any special issues.

Also, at the other nuclear power plants, there were no special circumstances such as earthquake warnings.

※ The value to set off earthquake warning at nuclear power plants (0.01 g), the value set for manual shutdown (0.1 g), the value set for automatic shutdown (0.18 g), the design standard for nuclear power plants (0.2 or 0.3 g)

In preparation for aftershocks afterwards, the NSSC plans to continuously check the safety of nuclear facilities.

NSSC Started Investigation on Automatic Trip of Research Reactor (Hanaro)

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the “NSSC”) was briefed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute that the Hanaro research reactor had automatically tripped at 02:32 on May 14.

This event was reported to have occurred due to the failure of the Cold Neutral Source (CNS)*.

* Cold Neutral Source (CNS) is equipment for decelerating using liquid hydrogen to use neutrons produced in nuclear reactors for research

The NSSC started inspecting the safety of the site through the Daejeon site office of the NSSC immediately after the event and dispatched experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety for a detailed investigation of the event.

It was confirmed that the Hanaro research reactor is currently in a stable state, and there are no special issues related to radiation safety.

The 176th Meeting of the Commission Was Held

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the "NSSC") held the 176th meeting of the Commission on May 11 (Thursday), 2023, where the commissioners deliberated and resolved one agenda item and were briefed on 1 agenda item.

Regarding the first item on the agenda for deliberation and resolution, the commissioners approved the ｢Budget and Fund Management Plan for 2024*｣ after amending some parts, and the result of the resolution will be submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by May 31, 2023, according to Articles 31 (Submission of Budget Requests) and 66 (Formulation of Draft Fund Management Plans) of the National Finance Act.

* Expenditure requested for 2024 is 273.8 billion KRW in total - 147.5 billion KRW in general accounting and 126.3 billion in Nuclear Energy Fund)

Regarding the first item for reporting, the commissioners were briefed by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety on the results of the document conformance review on the periodic safety review (PSR) for the continued operation of the Kori Units 3 and 4 and the plan for review thereof submitted by the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power.