Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, operated by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)

Customer Requirements

• “By deploying a private 5G network across a vast area of 3,404,858 m², services such as an emergency hotline between the power plant and the control tower are requested to be provided as a contingency in case the wired communication network goes down."

Solution: 5G Private Network-based Disaster Response System at a Nuclear Power Plant

• Transmission Equipment Redundancy: Ensures emergency communication by automatically switching the network in case of wired network failure due to a disaster

• Emergency Command Communication (MC-PTT): Secures an emergency communication network if the existing mobile communication network is disrupted by a disaster

• On-site Situation Relay: Enables the command center to monitor the on-site situation through high-definition video in the event of a disaster

Implementation Benefits

• Provide an emergency communication hotline to ensure connectivity even during disaster situations

• Offer efficient communication services among security personnel and staff through the MC-PTT function

• Deploy robots for monitoring and control in high-risk areas such as wildfire zones or areas with potential radiation leaks

  Hanul Nuclear Power Plant

  CCTV Camera, MC-PTT terminal

  HFR

  Why did KHNP

  build a private 5G

  network?

• Cybersecurity: Over the past 10 years, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has faced 1,463 hacking attempts. A fully isolated network, completely separated from public communication networks, is necessary (e.g., internal nuclear plant data leaks in 2014).
• Disaster Response: A secure private network is required that can operate normally without being affected by disasters such as wildfires, typhoons, or earthquakes, even when the nuclear plant is isolated (e.g., parts of the public  communication network near Hanul Nuclear Power Plant were lost during the large Uljin wildfire in 2022).
• Self-Operation: Public 5G networks operated by MNOs cannot be configured by KHNP, as the network operation and management are controlled by MNOs.

  Private 5G-enabled

  digital 

  transformation

  applications

① Transmission equipment redundancy: Automatically switches to the private 5G network when the wired network between the main communication room and the power plant is disconnected. Automatic switching within 50ms

  
② Emergency command communication (MC-PTT): uses the private 5G network as a stand-alone, autonomous command network for the Hanul nuclear power plant in the event that the commercial mobile communication network is down.

③ On-site Situation Relay: In a disaster situation, mobile 360° cameras installed near the disaster site and VR (3D) and AI (object recognition) are applied. Commander can monitor and direct disaster situations from the communications room in the main building without going to the field.

  Private 5G network

  architecture

• KHNP builds a full set of 5G network at Hanul nuclear power plant (on-premise model)
  • 5G Core, CU/DU, MEC, and application server are installed in the communication room of the main building of Hanul Nuclear Power Plant.
  • RU is installed in the main building and power plants 1, 2, and 3
• KHNP was allocated a private 5G frequency (4.72-4.82 GHz) by the government in November 2022.
• KHNP begins private 5G planning in July 2022 and completes private 5G network deployment in December 2022
• Private 5G vendor: HFR (Korean vendor HFR provides KHNP with service operation management platform, 5G SA core, 5G CU/DU, fronthaul mux, RU)

  Related Materials

  /News