Korean reactor gets 10-year life extension

[Korea.net, 6 December] Kori-1, South Korea's first commercial nuclear power reactor, has been given permission by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to continue operating for a further ten years. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) requested a licence extension for the reactor - which started generating electricity in 1977 - in June 2006. Kori-1 was taken off-line in June 2007 when it reached its original 30-year operating life. However, MOST said that after 18 months of technical and on-site inspections it considered the unit safe to operate for an additional ten years. Bae Jae-ung, head of the ministry's atomic energy division, said: "Because this is the first time Korea examined the feasibility of allowing a reactor to be run beyond its original design life, experts employed both the periodic safety review and the licence renewal processes used by the IAEA and the United States respectively." MOST said that final inspections of the reactor should be completed in two weeks, so Kori-1 can technically be restarted within the month. However, the ministry said that a final decision on when the reactor would restart will be made by KHNP.