South Korea Regulator Clears Shin-Hanul 2 Reactor for Restart

South Korea’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission has authorised the restart of the Shin-Hanul 2 reactor, allowing the 1.4-gigawatt unit to reach criticality after nearly four months of maintenance and safety checks. The reactor was taken offline on 20 April following a coolant leak discovered on 12 March and a gas leak two days later. During the outage, operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. replaced a faulty fuel rod and completed inspections on 88 safety items; a further 11 tests will be carried out once the unit is operating at criticality. Regulatory approval clears the way for Shin-Hanul 2 to resume electricity production, bolstering South Korea’s nuclear generation portfolio as the country seeks to meet energy-security and decarbonisation targets.