Prof. Mamdouh El-Shanawany
Lloyd’s Register awarded a USD $10.6 m nuclear contract to support South Korea’s nuclear power commitment to best-practice safety and risk management
Lloyd’s Register has been awarded a significant agreement to provide Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., (KHNP) with a comprehensive suite of independent third-party verification services to assess their nuclear safety equipment.
The agreement recognises the importance of independent assessment and verification, which promotes greater industry collaboration for safety, reassuring the industry stakeholders and the public that KHNP and the government is using expert resources to ensure the safety of their civil nuclear industry in South Korea.
The global nuclear industry is growing more complex as the demand for cleaner energy is increasing worldwide. Four hundred and thirty nuclear power plants are expected to be newly added around the world by 2030, so the demand for safe and sustainable energy supply and the introduction of enhanced nuclear reactor designs and plant technology is driving change. South Korea’s aim is to become one of the world’s largest exporters of civil nuclear reactor designs and associated fuel cycle services.
“At Lloyd’s Register we focus on providing independent nuclear regulatory and licensing support to countries, regulators, vendors and operators worldwide. Our aim is to enhance safety and support industry stakeholders in making safe and secure decisions, and our capabilities cover all aspects of the nuclear programme including fuel cycle and asset lifecycle from design to decommissioning, ” said Prof. Mamdouh El-Shanawany, VP Nuclear, from Lloyd’s Register.
The work by Lloyd’s Register will strengthen KHNP’s Quality Assurance and safety programme for the prevention of counterfeit and fraudulent documents and substandard equipment.
“It is a high profile project and it is of critical importance to the South Korean nuclear industry, ” says El-Shanawany. “We are one of a very few number of organisations that have the diversity of technical expertise to fully support clients in delivering that important role which connects operational safety issues with commercial acumen. We believe this agreement from KHNP recognises that.”
Lloyd’s Register’s contract with KHNP, a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) which is the largest electric utility in South Korea, is valued at more than USD $10.6 million for a period of two years. Employees from Lloyd’s Register’s Korea inspection services team will support KHNP as their Nuclear Technical Support Organisation in ensuring a seamless delivery of work packages.
KHNP said: “Safety is our number one priority and our approach to nuclear power as a fuel source is safe, ”
The building of new nuclear plant anywhere in the world comes under close scrutiny to achieve best-in-industry fail-safe operations in order to provide that assurance to communities and the wider world.
South Korea is one of the leading countries involved in active construction and operation of nuclear power plants globally. It is a nuclear power producer with a capacity of 20, 716MW, which is the fifth largest in the world. It operated 23 nuclear power units as of 2013 with five more under construction. South Korea plans to build another ten nuclear power plants by 2030. KEPCO and its group companies which include KHNP, armed with rich operational know-how, best-practice safety and technological strength are putting overseas nuclear power plant business as their key business agenda.
“This latest move by Lloyd’s Register working together with KHNP is another step in our strategy to actively support the safe and sustainable development of nuclear power generation in South Korea and worldwide, “ said El-Shanawany.
Lloyd’s Register provides independent assurance to companies operating high-risk, capital-intensive assets in the energy and transportation sectors. It enhances the safety of life, property and the environment by helping its clients to ensure the quality construction and operation of critical infrastructure.
As the trading subsidiary of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK registered charity, Lloyd’s Register believes it is our responsibility to ensure that all of our clients have the technical support and guidance they need to build and operate civil nuclear power facilities safely and efficiently. We are not proponents or opponents of the use civil nuclear power. In other words, we are not promoting its use. However, we do believe that civil nuclear power has a place in the global energy mix as countries’ energy security requirements become more important and society demands a response to global warming. What proportion of that mix it ultimately represents will be dictated by market and socio-political dynamics.
Lloyd’s Register has been involved in the civil nuclear power sector for more than 55 years. Having been involved since its inception, it is one of the world’s most qualified organisations to support the safety of nuclear projects. Since the early days of nuclear power, Lloyd’s Register has supported more than 1, 000 projects, including the industry first Calder Hall reactors, UK, in the 1950s. Recent projects involve nuclear clients from as far as Korea, Japan and China, and across Europe including France and the UK. Its RiskSpectrum® software is used in over 50 % of the world’s nuclear power plants for advanced risk and reliability analysis.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) operates large nuclear and hydroelectric plants in South Korea, which are responsible for about 40% of the country’s electric power supply. It was formally established in 2001 as part of a general restructuring at KEPCO although KEPCO had opened its first nuclear plant at Kori in Busan in 1977. The first commercial operation of Kori nuclear #1 was held 1978.
KHNP is one of the world major nuclear operators, with 23 operating reactors and 5 units currently under construction. Korea is actively seeking to export its nuclear technology with a contract to supply four nuclear reactors to UAE
KHNP is based in Seoul, South Korea.
