Doosan Enerbility starts manufacturing parts for new nuclear reactors in Korea

Doosan Enerbility Co.’s commemorative event celebrating the start of the manufacturing of major components for Shin Hanul reactors 3 and 4 held in Changwon on May 15. [Photo provided by Doosan Enerbility]

Doosan Enerbility Co., South Korea’s biggest supplier of nuclear reactors, held a ceremony at its main factory in Changwon on Monday as it started production of major components to be installed in Shin Hanul reactors 3 and 4 in the country by 2033 and celebrated the resumption of new orders in six years.

Around 10 round-shaped forged materials were neatly placed outside Doosan Enerbility‘s main factory in the southeastern industrial city of Changwon in South Korea on Monday. They looked like newly manufactured products as they were neatly painted in beige, but they were actually five years old. Main components for nuclear power plants, such as nuclear reactors and steam generators, are made by welding these forged materials.

“We painted them to avoid rust,” explained the head of a Doosan Enerbility plant in Changwon. “Now that the factory has resumed operations, we will bring them inside the factory, peel off the paint, and work on them again.”

Still, there are concerns as the company has been facing challenges finding workers nearby its factory, which covers a total area of 4.3 million square meters and is 1.5 times larger than Yeouido, the financial district in Seoul.

The company had no orders for nuclear power plants during the previous Moon Jae-in administration due to its policy to shift to renewable energy. The Changwon factory has so far manufactured a total of 34 nuclear reactors and 124 steam generators, and once manufactured 20 steam generators with a height of 23 meters, diameter of 6 meters, and weight of 775 tons at the same time.

Absence of orders caused the number of its employees to plummet and its factory utilization to drop sharply. Fortunately, however, 460 or so subcontractors remained almost unchanged to be the driving force behind the revival of nuclear power plants in the country. This is why Doosan Enerbility President Yeonin Jeong expressed at the event his gratitude to the company’s partners for enduring the difficult times.