Flowserve to Supply Isolation Valves for South Korea's Shin-Kori Nuclear Power Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) (Irving, Texas), a fluid dynamics solutions provider, has secured an order from Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) for the supply of main steam and feed water isolation valves for the Shin-Kori 3 and 4 pressurized water reactors (PWR) under construction in Ulsan, South Korea, in a multi-million dollar deal. Flowserve will provide isolation valves for the first pair of 1,400-megawatt (MW) reactors that are based on the new APR-1400 reactor model from KHNP. The first two units of the Shin-Kori nuclear plant are based on the earlier OPR-1000 design.

PWRs generate power by making use of steam from de-mineralized water, which is continuously heated within the reactor core, to operate the turbines. Boiling water under high pressure from the core is passed through a steam generator unit, which then feeds the power generating turbines with a steady supply of steam. The spent water is subsequently passed through a cooling unit and recycled back into the reactor core.

Isolation valves form a default part of the active safety systems of nuclear plants, and serve to insulate each unit from the other. Flowserve's isolation valves play a vital role in stabilizing high-core temperatures during critical situations. In the case of an emergency, the isolation valves retain the cooling water within the reactor, even when the unit is shut down.

Units 3 and 4 of the Shin-Kori plant are expected to commence operations in September 2013 and 2014, respectively, with fuel loading scheduled earlier in the corresponding years. Start-up energizing, cold hydro tests, and hot functional tests for unit 3 have been scheduled from 2011 onward. The same schedule will be applied to unit 4 a year later. As of August 2009, construction of reactor containment building of unit 3 was under way, while concrete setting for the auxiliary and containment buildings of unit 4 was in progress. Work on underground structures in the outer periphery, excavations for submerged discharge and intake tunnels, and the development of water cooling systems were also progressing in parallel.

Plant architecture has been engineered by Korea Power Engineering Company Incorporated (Kyungki-Do, South Korea), while fuel for the two units will be supplied by Korea Nuclear Fuel Company Limited (Daejeon, South Korea). Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company Limited (SEO:034020) (Gyeongsahngnam-Do, South Korea), Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company Limited (SEO:000725) (Seoul, South Korea), and SK Engineering and Construction Company Limited (Seoul) are the construction contractors for the venture. Doosan also secured the supply contract for nuclear steam supply systems, turbines and generators for the venture.

KHNP, an erstwhile subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation (SEO:015760) (KEPCO) (Seoul), accounts for about 40% of the country's total power production. KHNP is the owner of all 20 nuclear reactors in South Korea, including the Kori, Yonggwang, Ulchin and Wolsong reactors. The firm also operates hydropower ventures in the Hangang network.

KHNP is credited with several design and technology innovations specific to the domestic market, including the development of local variants of the System 80 nuclear steam supply design from Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania). It has subsequently come up with other reactor designs such as the Korean Standard Nuclear Plant (KNSP), OPR-1000, and the latest APR-1400, to be put to use for the first time at Shin-Kori 3 and 4. KHNP, the largest of the group of six subsidiaries that demerged from KEPCO in 2001, accounted for 25% of KEPCO's power output across both the nuclear and hydropower segments.

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