Tag: nuclear power

Once again reality continues to hit countries trying to go away from both coal and nuclear power generation like South Korea is trying to do:

With fine dust at choking levels, there are calls for a reduction in power plants fueled by coal and a hike in taxes on diesel fuel to discourage dirty methods of transportation. 

But such measures could backfire.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Wednesday it will close six aging coal power plants by 2022, three years earlier than originally planned. It will also expand the range of coal plants that will have their operations curtailed when the government issues a fine dust warning. The list, which originally affected 40 plants, was extended to all 60 plants in the country Wednesday. 

Coal plants will conduct more maintenance operations in spring to reduce their hours when fine dust levels are at their highest during the year. 

Yet coal power plants are the largest sources of Korea’s power. Unlike solar and wind-powered plants, coal plants are unaffected by weather conditions in generating electricity (as are nuclear plants).

Korea’s coal power plants currently have the capacity to generate 36,031 megawatts per year, which accounts for 28.6 percent of all power generated in the country. That figure is projected to reach 40,241 megawatts by 2022. 

Its proportion is set to decrease. Coal power plants actually accounted for 45.3 percent of total output in 2017 when several nuclear plants were not in operation. The projection for 2030 is 36.1 percent.

But even then, coal is also expected to remain the country’s biggest energy production source.

The government wants to replace coal plants with liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered plants to reduce fine dust emission levels. But LNG plants are not as efficient and will lead to higher electricity bills. It is uncertain whether the public would accept paying higher electric fees in exchange for less coal power.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The ROK Navy thinks a nuclear powered submarine is a way to counter North Korea’s nuclear threat:

South Korea has started a feasibility review for the building of a nuclear-powered submarine amid North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, government sources said Sunday.

The Navy has commissioned a private institute to find ways to resolve international restrictions in building a nuclear submarine with the results to come out as early as the end of this year, sources said.

The government and the military are likely to finalize whether to construct a nuclear-powered sub based on the study.

The move comes as North Korea has been advancing its nuclear and missile capability by firing two intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Could you imagine what would happen to South Korea if their nuclear reactors were struck by North Korean ballistic missiles causing multiple Fukushima like disasters across the country?:

South Korea’s nuclear power reactors have not been designed to deal with military attacks, a report submitted to a lawmaker by the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) showed Sunday.

The evaluation sent to Rep. Kim Jong-hoon of the conservative Liberty Korea Party revealed that the outer protective wall of local reactors were never meant to withstand a missile strike or other forms of concerted attacks.

The reinforced concrete walls are the last barrier built around reactors that can contain radioactive materials from being leaked into the surrounding area in the event of a serious accident.

“They have been designed from the outset only to remain standing in the face of typhoons, earthquakes and other forms of natural disasters,” the lawmaker said. He pointed out that the casing can deflect the blast of explosions and debris from the inside, although not from external strikes or even the kind of terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but this just goes to show the importance of missile defense which certain people in South Korea actually want to handicap and leave critical infrastructure like this with less protection.

An unfortunate accident has killed three workers at a nuclear power plant in Ulsan that was about to go online:

The labor ministry has ordered two nuclear reactors under construction to be shut down to look into the cause of a toxic gas leak that killed three workers, a local branch said Saturday.

Three workers died Friday apparently after inhaling toxic gas at the construction site of a nuclear reactor in Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. earlier said it suspected nitrogen gas leaked from an underground cable caused the deaths.

The ministry said it will cooperate with the occupational safety agency, the emergency management agency and police to conduct a joint probe into the site and summon officials at the state nuclear power company and contractors.

“We will promptly conduct an investigation and hold accountable those who are responsible (in the incident) if any irregularities are discovered,” Yoo Han-bong, who leads the labor ministry’s Ulsan branch, said.

The New Gori No. 3 reactor with a rated capacity of 1,400 megawatts was 99 percent complete for full operation scheduled for next June, and was undergoing a test run since last month to receive approval from the state nuclear watchdog. The New Gori No. 4 reactor was 98 percent complete, with commercial operation slated for 2016.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if the investigation shows any sloppy safety practices led to this tragedy.  Also of interest in the article is that Korea’s nuclear power plants have also been facing cyber attacks and of course the IP address for the attacks was coming out of China.  North Korea is the suspected culprit, but the fact that China continues to allow them use IP addresses in their country shows how they are complicit in letting them conduct these cyberattacks.