APR-1400

The APR-1400 (for Advanced Power Reactor 1400 [MWe]) is an advanced pressurized water nuclear reactor designed by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). Originally known as the Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR),[1] this Generation III reactor was developed from the earlier OPR-1000 design and also incorporates features from the US Combustion Engineering (C-E) System 80+ design.[2] Currently there is one unit in operation (Shin Kori unit 3) and seven units under construction, four in the United Arab Emirates at Barakah[3] and three in South Korea: one at Shin Kori and two at Shin Hanul. Two more units are planned with construction yet to commence at Shin Kori.

History

APR-1400 design began in 1992 and was awarded certification by the Korean Institute of Nuclear Safety in May 2002.[4] The design certification application was submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 2014 and in March 2015, it was accepted for technical review to determine if the reactor design meets basic US safety requirements.[5]

South Korea

The first commercial APR-1400 reactors at Shin Kori were approved in September 2007,[6] with construction starting in October 2008 (Unit 3) and August 2009 (Unit 4).[4][7][8] Shin Kori-3 was initially scheduled to commence operation by the end of 2013, but the schedules for both Units 3 & 4 were delayed by approximately one year to replace safety-related control cabling, which had failed some tests.[9] Construction of two more APR-1400 units at Shin Kori, Korea (Units 5 and 6) was expected to begin in 2014,[10] and updated schedules now have construction of Units 5 and 6 starting in September 2016 and September 2017, with commercial operation slated for March 2021 and March 2022, respectively.[11]

Construction of two new APR-1400s, Shin Hanul Units 1 & 2, began in May 2012 (Unit 1)[12] and June 2013 (Unit 2),[13] with Unit 1 expected to be completed in April 2017.[13] Two more APR-1400s at Shin Hanul were approved in 2014, with construction to start in 2017.[14]

United Arab Emirates

In December 2009, a KEPCO-led consortium was awarded the contract to build four APR-1400 reactors at Barakah, United Arab Emirates.[15] Construction of Barakah Unit 1 started in July 2012,[16] Unit 2 started construction in May 2013,[17] Unit 3 started construction in September 2014[18] and Unit 4 started construction in September 2015.[19][20]

APR-1400 Summary[11]

[21] [22]

[23]
Site Unit Status Construction
Start		 Construction
Complete		 Operation
Shin-Kori 3 Operational 16 October 2008 30 October 2015 [lower-alpha 1][24] May 2016[24]
4 under construction 19 August 2009 – early 2017[lower-alpha 1][21]
5 planned September 2016 – March 2021
6 planned September 2017 – March 2022
Shin-Hanul 1 under construction 10 July 2012 – April 2017[21]
2 under construction 19 June 2013 – February 2018[21]
3 planned 2018 – 2023[11]
4 planned 2018 – 2023[11]
Barakah 1 under construction 18 July 2012 – 2017[25]
2 under construction 28 May 2013 – 2018[25]
3 under construction 24 September 2014 – 2019[25]
4 under construction 2 September 2015 – 2020[25]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Delayed by fraudulent cabling issue[9]

Design

The APR-1400 is an evolutionary Advanced Light Water Reactor which is based on the previous OPR-1000 design. Under Korean conditions, the reactor produced 1455MWe gross electrical power with a thermal power capacity of 3983 MWt (4000MWt nominal).[26]

The design was developed to meet 43 design requirements,[27] with the main developments being evolution in capacity, increased lifetime and enhanced safety. The design improvements also focus on meeting economic objectives and licensing requirements. Compared to the OPR-1000, the key features are:

Several other changes were incorporated such as moving to complete digital I/C and implementation of new systems in the Safety Injection System (SIT).

Core

The reactor core of the APR-1400 consists of 241 fuel assemblies, 93 control element assemblies, and 61 in-core instrumentation assemblies. Each fuel assembly has 236 fuel rods in a 16 x 16 array (some space is taken up by guide tubes for control elements) containing Uranium dioxide (average enrichment of 2.6 w/o), which is capable of producing an average volumetric power density of 100.9 W/cm^3. Up to 30% of the core can also be loaded with Mixed Oxide fuel with minor modifications. The core is designed for an 18-month operating cycle with a discharge burnup up to 60,000 MWD/MTU, with a thermal margin of 10%.[4] For the control element assemblies, 76 Boron carbide pellets rods are used in the full strength control rods, while 17 Inconel-625 is used in the part strength control rods.

Primary

Like the OPR-1000 and preceding C-E designs, the APR-1400 has two reactor coolant loops. In each loop, heated primary coolant leaves the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) through one hot leg, passing through one steam generator (SG), returning to the reactor vessel through two cold legs, each equipped with a reactor coolant pump (RCP). In loop 2, there is one pressurizer (PZR) on the hot leg, where a steam bubble is maintained during operation. The loops are arranged symmetrically, so the hot legs are diametrically opposed on the RPV's circumference. Because the SGs are elevated relative to the RPV, natural convection will circulate reactor coolant in the event of RCP malfunction. The PZR is equipped with a pilot-operated relief valve which not only protects against Reactor Coolant System over-pressure, it also allows manual depressurization in the case of a total loss of feedwater.

Secondary

Each SG has 13,102 Inconel 690 tubes; this material improves resistance to stress corrosion cracking compared to the Inconel 600 used in prior designs.[4] Like the late-evolution System 80+ design, the SG design incorporates an integral feedwater economizer, which pre-heats feedwater before it is introduced into the SG. Compared with the OPR-1000 design, the SG features a larger secondary feedwater inventory, extending the dry-out time and affording more time for manual operator intervention, should it be needed. The design tube plugging margin is 10%, meaning the unit can operate at full power with up to 10% of the SG tubes plugged. Each of the two main steam lines from the SG contain five safety valves, a main steam relief valve and one isolation valve.

APR+

The APR-1000 has been further developed into the APR+ design, which received its official type certification on August 14, 2014 after seven years in development.[28] The reactor design features improved safety and among others "a core damage frequency an entire order of magnitude lower than that calculated for the APR1400 design that it supplants".[29] The APR+ core uses 257 fuel assemblies (16 more than APR-1400) to increase output to 1550 MWe gross.[26] Certain safety features, such as backup generators, have been increased from two to four independent, redundant systems.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Goldberg, Stephen M.; Rosner, Robert (2011). Nuclear Reactors: Generation to Generation (PDF). Global Nuclear Future (American Academy of Arts and Sciences). p. 7. ISBN 0-87724-090-6. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  2. ↑ US design certification sought for APR1400, 2013. WNN
  3. ↑ "Reactor vessel installed at Barakah 2". World Nuclear News. 18 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lee, Sang-Seob; Kim, Sung-Hwan; Suh, Kune-Yull (8 October 2009). "The design features of the Advanced Power Reactor 1400" (PDF). Nuclear Engineering and Technology 41 (8): 995–1004. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Ciocco, Jeffrey A. (4 March 2015). "Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., and Korea Electric Power Corporation – Acceptance of the Application for Standard Design Certification of the APR1400" (PDF) (Letter to Dr. Ha-Hwang Jung and Dr. Hee-Yong Lee). Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Shin-Kori 3 and 4 approved". World Nuclear News. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Shin-Kori-3, Korea RO (South)". World Nuclear Association. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Shin-Kori-4, Korea RO (South)". World Nuclear Association. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. 1 2 World Nuclear News (2013-10-18). "Recabling delays Shin Kori start ups". World Nuclear News. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  10. ↑ "Go-ahead for new reactors at Shin Kori". World Nuclear News (World Nuclear Association). 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Samsung-led consortium awarded Korean construction contract". World Nuclear News (World Nuclear Association). 4 June 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Celebrations at South Korean groundbreaking". World Nuclear News. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Second Shin Hanul unit under construction". World Nuclear News. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Sites agreed for four more South Korean reactors". World Nuclear News. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "UAE picks Korea as nuclear partner". World Nuclear News. 29 December 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Construction under way at Barakah". World Nuclear News. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Barakah 2 under way". World Nuclear News. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Construction starts on third Barakah unit". World Nuclear News. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Nuclear Power in the United Arab Emirates". World Nuclear Association. April 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  20. ↑ "UAE's fourth power reactor under construction". World Nuclear News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Fuel loading under way at Shin Kori 3". World Nuclear News. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Korea, Republic of". IAEA Power Reactor Information System. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "United Arab Emirates". IAEA Power Reactor Information System. 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Grid connection for first Korean APR-1400". World Nuclear News. 19 January 2016.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "UAE's ENEC submits plan to run first two nuclear reactors". Arabian Business. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors". World Nuclear Association. August 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  27. ↑ Kim, Han-Gon (2009). The Design Characteristics of Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (PDF) (Report). International Atomic Energy Association. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  28. ↑ Peachey, Caroline (26 August 2014). "Design approval for Korean APR+ reactor". Nuclear Engineering International. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  29. ↑ Davis, Will (2 September 2014). "APR+ Design Certification Announced". atomic power review. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  30. ↑ "APR+ Reactor". Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO). 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2015.

External links

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