SK Telecom and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power are enhancing disaster response capabilities at nuclear power plants by applying Eeum 5G.

SK Telecom and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced on the 19th that they will jointly pursue the 'Discovery of 5G Convergence Services and Public Sector Leading Application' project to apply a 5G specialized network to the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant (hereinafter Hanul Nuclear Power Plant) located in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, within this year.

This project involves 12 companies, including SK Telecom, SK Corporation C&C, SK O&S, Sapion Korea, Only Information & Communication, Dongyang Itech, Cybertel Bridge, Lami, HFR, NtelS, and AM Solutions, participating together in a consortium with KEPCO as the lead organization and end-user.

Last June, the 12 companies participated as the 'KHNP Consortium' in the free sector of 'Discovery of 5G Convergence Services and Public Sector Leading Application' promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) and were selected as the lead project operator.

As Hanul Nuclear Power Plant experienced disruptions due to the Uljin wildfire earlier this year, the application of Eeum 5G... Strengthening in-house disaster response capabilities, such as replacing communication networks, is expected.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and consortium participants including SKT plan to demonstrate three specialized nuclear disaster response services (transmission equipment redundancy service, emergency command communication service, and on-site situation relay service) based on 5G specialized network infrastructure around Hanul Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 through 6, and open the 'KHNP 5G Specialized Network Collaboration Center' to support the control system at KHNP headquarters in Gyeongju and partner companies.

If this project is successfully completed, KHNP plans to expand the application of Eeum 5G to nuclear, hydroelectric, and pumped storage power plants nationwide. In particular, it intends to apply the technology to Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4, for which early construction was recently decided to restore the nuclear ecosystem, in order to enhance the safety and efficiency of construction sites. Furthermore, the company announced that it is considering global expansion based on its 'disaster response solution through a 5G specialized network.'

SKT stated that it would support this project by mobilizing its entire ICT infrastructure based on the technological capabilities that led to the successful commercialization of 5G.

Jeon Hye-soo, Head of the Digital Innovation Promotion Team at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), stated, “After successfully completing this pilot application project, KHNP plans to enhance the stability and efficiency of overall nuclear power plant construction and operation based on a 5G specialized network by expanding it to other nuclear power plants and applying it to the construction site of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4.”

"We are pleased to be able to contribute to both the restoration of the nuclear power ecosystem and the revitalization of the 5G specialized network industry by proactively applying a 5G specialized network to the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant," said Shin Yong-sik, head of SKT Connect Infra. "We will successfully complete this project through SK Telecom's world-class wired and wireless communication technologies and various AI services."