KHNP officially begins construction of a new APR-1400 nuclear unit in South Korea

Technicians in South Korea have officially begun construction of another nuclear unit at the Shin Hanul power plant. The plant’s third APR-1400 unit will have an installed capacity of 1400 MW. The country plans to complete the unit in 2032. Under the original plans, units 3 and 4 were supposed to be generating electricity by now, but the project was halted in 2017 due to anti-nuclear policies.

South Korean energy company Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced that it had reached an important milestone in the completion of the Shin Hanul nuclear power plant. On May 20, the first concrete was poured for the reactor building, officially marking the start of construction on the site’s third APR-1400 unit. The plant already has two identical units, which South Korea brought online in 2022 and 2023.

“We will do everything we can to strengthen K-Power’s position in the global nuclear plant construction market. Our goal is to build units 3 and 4 of the Shin Hanul power plant safely, on time and within budget,” KHNP President Hwang Joo-ho said.

Construction of the new 1400 MW unit is planned to take 7 years. Doosan Enerbility will supply the main components for units 3 and 4.

Five-year political pause

KHNP applied for a construction permit for the project to complete two nuclear units at the Shin Hanul power plant back in 2016. Instead of preparatory construction work beginning in 2017, however, the project was halted in response to the anti-nuclear policies of the newly elected president at the time, Moon Jae-in.

South Korea’s return to nuclear power and the development of new energy sources came with the election of President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022. In 2023, the South Korean government supported the continuation of the project, and in September 2024 KHNP obtained a license for units 3 and 4 from the nuclear regulator.

“We expect units 3 and 4 of the Shin Hanul nuclear power plant to make a significant contribution to revitalizing the nuclear industry and to serve as a symbol of the return to nuclear power after 2022. They will also become the safest nuclear power plant representing Korea,” KHNP said in a press release.