Nuclear Safety and Security Commission

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 03:53 on February 1.

* Hanaro was restarted on January 31, 2023 after a trip due to the Cold Neutral Source (CNS) failure on on November 15, 2022.

This event was reported to have occurred due to the reactor control system*.

* The reactor control system controls the control rod to adjust the reactor output or stop the reactor.

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.

NSSC Commissioners Had Field Meeting

- The commissioners discussed ways to improve the meeting procedure and visited the site of the Shinhanul Unit 2. -

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the ”NSSC”) held a field meeting among the NSSC commissioners in Uljin, Gyeongbuk from January 26 to 27.

The commissioners had an in-depth discussion on ways to making commissioners’ meeting more effective, including focusing their deliberation on major safety issues, and matters raised in relation to the procedure of the commissioners’ meetings.

Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee said, “The NSSC is a nuclear safety decision making agency at the highest level, which is directly connected to public safety, so it should be operated based on scientific technology and rationality.” He also added, “We will develop concrete plans on how to improve the operation of the Commission, including its meetings, based on suggestions presented at this gathering.”

Also, the NSSC commissioners visited the Shinhanul Unit 2 site, which is going through operating license review, and were briefed, by the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power on the progress of the construction of the Unit. They also had a visit around the Main Control Room (MCR) and the reactor.

NSSC Promotes Proactive Preparation of SMR Safety Regulations

- The NSSC held an 「Expert Seminar for Preparing Directions of Small Module Reactor Safety Regulation.」 -

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the NSSC) held an expert seminar on January 17 at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul to prepare the direction for the safety regulation of Small Modular Reactors (SMR).

This is the first time for the NSSC to make an expert seminar on SMR safety regulation open to external stakeholders.

At this event, about 100 participants gathered including Lim Seung-cheol, the Secretary General of the NSSC, officials from the Ministry of Trade, Energy and Industry, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and other government agencies, people from institutions specialized in nuclear regulation (the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Institute of Non-proliferation and Control), vendors (the leader of the i-SMR technology development team, the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company, and KEPCO Nuclear Fuel) and scholars in the nuclear sector.

The NSSC officially held an event for communication between regulators and vendors in a bid to discuss policy directions for safety regulation of SMRs that many countries are competing to develop.

The NSSC has been continuously communicating with the industry by carrying out R&D programs on the development of base technologies for SMR safety regulation (from 2022 to 2028, a total of 36 billion KRW budget) to ensure the development of an innovative SMR, being promoted by the Korean government, go forward without a hitch.

※ i-SMR development plan: development starts in 2023, Standard Design Approval in 2028, envisage to enter the export market in the 2030s

At this seminar, the NSSC presented a draft version of “policy directions for SMR safety regulation” that includes the content of preparing a safety verification framework for innovative technologies to be applied to SMR and presenting it to the vendors. Consensus was formed on the necessity of a pre-licensing review by which regulators and vendors can pursue common understanding in the very early phase of development in order to minimize uncertainties in the development of i-SMR.

Additionally, the participants discussed overseas leading cases of SMR and lessons, and were briefed by the newly appointed leader of the i-SMR technology development team on the development status of i-SMR.

Secretary General Lim said, “The NSSC will proactively lay out safety regulation to lead the development of a more innovative and safer i-SMR, and build a safety regulatory framework for SMR so that licensing and review can take place at a right time.”

The NSSC plans to review matters discussed at this seminar and announce “Directions for SMR Safety Regulation” later.

NSSC and UAE FANR Signed Administrative Arrangement

- The significantly simplified process of nuclear export permits is expected to bring the effect to reduce the time by up to six months. -

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the NSSC) signed the NSSC-FANR Administrative Arrangement with the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the nuclear regulatory authority of the United Arab Emirates on January 15 (local time).

This Administrative Arrangement was based on the Korea-UAE Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and concluded on the occasion of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s presidential visit to the UAE.

The NSSC-FANR Administrative Arrangement stipulates duties associated with nuclear safeguards and export control and is expected to simplify the nuclear export control process.

Since the nuclear export to the UAE in 2009, the NSSC has issued about 4,000 export permits on the equipment necessary for the construction of the Barakah nuclear power plant, such as reactors, steam generators and nuclear fuel, and related technologies.

With the conclusion of this Administrative Arrangement, the NSSC and the FANR are able to directly handle the nuclear export permit and as a result, it is expected to reduce the time needed to process future export permits for nuclear fuel supply and power plant maintenance, by up to six months.

Both countries concluded the NSSC-FANR Cooperation Arrangement for cooperation in nuclear safety regulation by chance of the export of the Korean reactors to the UAE Barakah site in December 2011. Since then, the two agencies have regularly held bilateral meetings to share regulatory experience and information at each step of the construction and operation of the Barakah nuclear power plant.

The Administrative Arrangement was concluded upon the agreement made in 2018 at the bilateral meeting held in Seoul with the purpose of having more effective regulation of safeguards and export control in both countries.

Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee said in the UAE, “By taking the bilateral summit meeting as a chance, 10 years of cooperation between the two agencies have come to new fruition in the form of conclusion of the Administrative Arrangement.” He also added, “I am very glad about this achievement and expect that cooperation will be further strengthened with the preparation of a direct communication channel.”

The 170th Meeting of the Commission Was Held

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairperson Yoo Guk-hee, hereinafter referred to as the NSSC) held the 170th meeting of the Commission, January 12, 2023 where the commissioners deliberated and passed 2 agenda items.

As for the first agenda item for resolution and deliberation, the commissioners discussed and passed the modified version* of the 「Plan on Nuclear Safety Research and Development Project for 2023」 to invest a total of 49.7 billion KRW to ensure technical capabilities for safety regulation and regulatory technologies to cope with current issues.

* Regarding the project proposal, the “establishment of regulatory groundwork for probabilistic safety assessments of multi-units,” the importance of the research was taken into consideration from a regulatory perspective. Therefore the opinions suggested at the meetings of the NSSC Commission were incorporated and finalized, and the commissioners passed the modified version of the proposal that includes the clause to report the progress of the first year and future plans to the NSSC Commission.

Regarding the second agenda item for deliberation and resolution, the commissioners passed the 「bill to modify the operating license of nuclear facilities」 requested by the Korea Hydro the Nuclear Power to replace fastening studs for the reactor vessel of the Hanul Unit 5.

Auxiliary Feed Water Pump of Shinkori Units 3 and 4 Satisfy Safety Requirements and It is Not True that NSSC Ratified Violation of Procedure

On January 6, Hangyere published an article titled, “Shinkori Units 3 and 4 are constructed with an unlawfully changed design and concerns over reactor cooling in emergency…. NSSC admits violation of procedure but ratified it,” and claimed that the design of the Shinkori Units 3 and 3 were unlawfully changed and constructed by which the power source for the Turbine Drive Auxiliary Feed Water Pump was changed from Emergency Diesel Generators to reserve batteries, thus threatening the safety of the nuclear power plant. The article also argued that the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), which is different from actual construction status, was not screened when undergoing the operating licensing process and later ratified, therefore the modification of the Final Safety Analysis Report was an attempt to conceal the misconduct in design change.

About this article, the NSSC explains:

The Auxiliary Feed Water Pump provides water to steam generators to cool a reactor when a design basis accident occurs. All power plants must be equipped with a multiple number of pumps that operate in different ways to satisfy requirements for diversity, multiplication, and independence and the pumps should be able to maintain their function until the Shutdown Cooling System gets activated.

* The Auxiliary Feed Water Pump is composed of pumps operated by electricity as well as turbine drive pumps operated by steam in order to respond to a Loss of Offsite Power accident.

* The Auxiliary Feed Water Pump usually operates in the initial phase of accident and cools down a reactor (308℃→176℃), and when the coolant reaches 176℃ and the shutdown cooling system comes into operation, the Auxiliary Feed Water Pump is not required to function anymore.

The turbine drive Auxiliary Feed Water Pump can be operated by steam when control power is supplied. The licensee evaluated that even if power from reserve batteries controls the pumps, there is no effect on the reactor cooling function and changed the design of the Shinkori Units 3 and 4 (Saeul Units 1 and 2), differently from existing nuclear power plants, to respond with reserve batteries.

This modification in design was incorporated into the design drawing in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), which was submitted at the time of applying for an operating license of the Shinkori Units 3 and 4 (Saeul Units 1 and 2), and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety confirmed the appropriateness of the design and installation status on site during the safety review process and reviewed whether an emergency can be effectively responded. As a result, it was assessed that safety has been ensured.

The modification of the FSAR in the last year was made because the licensee found that some part of the FSAR may have led to misunderstanding although the installation status on site and the design drawing of the FSAR had no problem. Therefore, the licensee submitted an application for reporting a minor modification and the NSSC re-confirmed that the FSAR and the installation status on site were identical and the licensee submitted an application for reporting to clarify the descriptions of the FSAR. 

Finally, the NSSC accepted the application as minor modification in September 2022.

Also, the NSSC confirmed that the modification in the design has been well reflected in the FSAR for the Shinhanul Units 1 and 2, and the Saeul Units 3 and 4. And any content that may be possibly misinterpreted will be reviewed when the licensee submits an application for reporting modification.