▣ KEPCO Nuclear Fuel (President: Choi Ik-soo) announced on February 23 that it had developed a PWR fresh fuel shipping package(hereafter “shipping package”) that meets international code and standard using domestic technologies and had obtained a license from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission in the same month.

[Image] PIONEER G, a shipping package that meets all international codes and standards through verification tests and analyses

▣ The shipping package is used to safely transport PWR fuel produced at KEPCO NF manufacturing facility located 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 drop, fire, 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 package developed according to the existing domestic standards, this new design has 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 US 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.”