The Shin-Hanul-1 nuclear power plant in South Korea began commercial operation on Wednesday (7 December), making it the 25th nuclear plant in operation in the east Asian nation and marking a major political turnaround in energy policy.
Press reports in South Korea quoted Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company (KHNP), state owner and operator of all the country’s nuclear plants, as saying the indigenous 1,340-MW APR-1400 would help meet the country’s winter energy demand.
Operation of the plant, in North Gyeongsang Province in the east of the country, symbolises president Yoon Suk-yeol’s reversal of his predecessor’s policy to phase out nuclear power, the Korea Joong Ang Daily reported.
Former president Moon Jae-in’s policy had been to retire the country’s 24 commercial reactors, which supply about 30% of its electricity generation, and refrain from building new ones.
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