KEPCO NF Obtains Design Certification from NSSC for PWR Fresh Fuel Shipping Package

An image of PIONEER G, a shipping package that meets all international codes and standards through verification tests and analyses.

KEPCO Nuclear Fuel (KEPCO NF) said on Feb. 23 that it had developed a PWR fresh fuel shipping package meeting international codes and standards using domestic technologies.

KEPCO NF also said it had obtained a license from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) in the same month.

The shipping package is used to safely transport PWR fuel produced at the KEPCO NF manufacturing facility in Daejeon to nuclear power plants. Each shipping package can store two PWR fuel assemblies.

The shipping package passed several verification tests and evaluations for protection against drops, fires and floods, and was proven to meet all of the strict quality requirements of the United States.

It was designed in 2016, and licensing was approved in six years.

In comparison to previous shipping packages developed according to the existing domestic standards, this new design increased structural and thermal resistance to enhance fuel safety in various types of accidents that may occur during transportation process.

KEPCO NF President Choi Ik-soo said, “The most remarkable achievement is that the development of this international standard-compliant shipping package has removed restrictions on shipping PWR fuel to the U.S. and European nuclear plant markets in the future.

“We will actively cope with the increasingly stringent international regulatory requirements and open up a new challenge in the nuclear fuel export market using the shipping package design technology we have acquired.”

A view of KEPCO NF headquarters in Daejeon. (Photos: KEPCO NF)

KEPCO NF Gets 1st Class Grade in ESG Evaluation

KEPCO NF got the 1st class grade at an ESG evaluation by Korea Rating & Data last Dec. 29. Outcomes of the ESG evaluation showed that KEPCO NF reached excellent levels in the ESG perspective, was armed with enough sustainability and had less non-financial risks to hurt corporate value

KEPCO NF established an ESG committee last year and drew up strategies to implement ESG manage, and labor and management jointly declared ESG management.

As such, the company has established an ESG management regime and it has been shifting into an ESG management regime in a practical fashion.

KEPCO NF implemented a pilot project last year to support ESG diagnosis to its cooperative companies to spread ESG, and the company plans to expand the project this year.