Nuclear power plant in Ulsan, South Korea. Approximate location 35.7221, 129.4786.
NuclearUlsanSouth KoreaOPR-1000pressurized water reactor
Shin-Wolsong is a 2,096 MW nuclear power station in Ulsan, South Korea. It is operated by Korea Hydro and Nuclear. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 4.7 million homes (estimated). It ranks #18 of 216 South Korea power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2012, it is around 14 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 29.6% of South Korea's electricity; the national grid averages 417 gCO₂/kWh (40.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1000216.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 operating-unit sum (location L100000500126); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 2,096 MW, Shin-Wolsong is below the median nuclear plant in South Korea (3,000 MW). Technically it is described as pressurized water reactor. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Korea Hydro and Nuclear. All plants by this company →
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 35.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 3% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 49/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #8 largest nuclear power plant of 8 in South Korea by capacity.
South Korea has 8 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 29,469 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 35.7221, 129.4786 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Shin-Wolsong is a 2,096 MW source-record nuclear power plant in Ulsan, South Korea, commissioned in 2012.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 4,721,389 homes (estimated).
Shin-Wolsong is operated by Korea Hydro and Nuclear.
