Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has said that cold hydrostatic testing has been completed at unit 1 of South Korea’s Shin Hanul NPP in North Gyeongsang province. KHNP said high temperature functional tests will be conducted at the APR-1400 reactor between May and September 2017, with fuel loading scheduled to be completed in April 2018. The unit is scheduled to start up in early 2018.
Ground breaking for the first two units at the Shin Hanul (formerly Shin Ulchin) site took place in early May 2012. First concrete for unit 1 followed in July 2012, and for unit 2 in June 2013. The reactor vessel for unit 1 was installed in May 2014 and for unit 2 following in April 2015. The Shin Hanul units are the second pair of APR-1400s to be built in Korea. The first APR-1400 reactor, unit 3 at KHNP's Shin Kori site, achieved first criticality in December 2015 and was connected to the grid in January. A second unit, Shin Kori 4, is expected to start operating in early 2017. Two further APR-1400 units are planned for each site.
