한국전력기술

On March 2, KEPCO E&C acquired the latest design certification (EUR Rev.E) from the European Chamber of Commerce for the standard design of the Korean medium-sized nuclear power plant called APR1000, which aims to be exported to Europe.

As a result, S. Korea is evaluated as having an objective technological advantage over its competitors, being the only country among the three countries involved in the competition for the new nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic to have acquired the EUR Rev.E certification.

Through the EUR organization made of European nuclear power plant operators, the European business requirements are basic requirements developed to evaluate the safety and economic feasibility of the standard new light-water reactor designs to be built in Europe.

In 2016, the Revision E version of the EUR requirements reflecting the latest safety regulations of IAEA and WENRA was issued, consisting of about 5,000 requirements. Certification audits are conducted by an audit body involving multiple EUR organization’s member companies. Nine companies, including ČEZ (Czech Electric Power Corporation), the owner of the new nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic, Tractebel in Belgium, and EDF in France, participated in the certification audit body concerning APR1000.

KEPCO E&C has been responsible for responding to around 90% of the EUR requirements and has played a key role in acquiring EUR certification by attending a total of 21 certification audit technical meetings. The documents submitted by the company during the audit period amounts to about 6,000 audit documents and about 650 Q&A survey reports.

In attendance at the EUR certificate presentation ceremony held in Belgium on this day, head of the Nuclear Business Division Park Beom-seo emphasized, “Acquisition of this EUR certification represents an impressive achievement owing to the participation of numerous engineers of our company with expertise and passion,” and added, “KEPCO E&C will further pioneer the way in securing technological leadership for exports of Korean nuclear power plants as an agency dedicated to designing nuclear power plants.”

Meanwhile, to export nuclear power plants to Europe, such as the Czech Republic, the company has been active in developing the APR1000 reactor for medium-sized nuclear power plant with a cooling tower, etc. from 2017, and has successfully completed EUR Rev.E certification audit reviews since 2019. In the future, the company plans to continue the efforts to export nuclear power plants, such as responding to inquiries from Czech order-making clients and entering negotiations with them.