Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) confirmed that Hanbit unit 4 resumed power generation at 3:40 am on 11 December, ending an outage that began in May 2017.
The six-unit Hanbit nuclear power plant (Image: KHNP)
The unit was taken offline for a "planned preventive maintenance" outage but remained offline after the discovery of "voids" in its containment building. Those voids have been repaired, KHNP said. The five-year maintenance outage has also included maintenance of "major devices and facilities" including replacement of steam generators, it added.
Korea's nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, inspected the plant systems and confirmed that the standard of the repairs and the structural integrity of the containment building, before giving permission for the plant to restart on 9 December.
Hanbit 4 is expected to reach full power early in the morning of 15 December.
The Hanbit nuclear power plant was previously known as Yonggwang.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News
