
South Korea has a number of pressurized water reactors (PWR) plants (of the OPR1000 and APR1400 designs) supplied by Combustion Engineering and is currently constructing six further units, including the Shin Kori 3 and 4 APR1400 reactors. Shin Kori 4 is expected to be the first unit to utilize CEAs manufactured by the joint venture.
Joe Belechak, senior vice president of Westinghouse’s nuclear fuel division, said that the joint venture will enhance Westinghouse’s presence in South Korea and will continue to foster the relationship between Westinghouse and KNF. He commented: “As the construction of OPR1000 and APR1400 nuclear power plants continues to grow in the Republic of Korea, this joint venture will enable our valued customer, KNF, to further improve the efficiency of their manufacturing operations.”
Ik Hwan Lee, president and CEO of KNF, said that the collaboration between Westinghouse and KNF will be reinforced in supplying CEAs to utilities in the USA and South Korea.
KNF is over 96 percent owned by Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco). It is the supplier for pressurized water reactors (PWR) fuels and Candu fuels in Korea. KNF performs the initial core design and reload core design, including the safety analysis, and has also been developing an advanced fuel called X-Gen.
South Korea employs 20 nuclear reactors to generate 40 percent of its electricity. All the nuclear fuel for Korea’s power reactors is manufactured by KNF.