By Yoon Ja-young
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will focus on promoting the safety of nuclear energy to prevent the permanent suspension of the construction of new nuclear reactors here, its CEO said Monday.
"A total of 1.6 trillion won has been spent on the construction of reactors 5 and 6 at the Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant in Ulsan. Cancellation of the project will lead to problems such as compensation," Lee Kwan-sup said.
"The management as well as the board believes that construction of reactors 5 and 6 should continue. We know that the public is concerned over safety and we have no other option but to convince them of this."
To fulfill his pledge of a nuclear free country, President Moon Jae-in ordered the temporary suspension of the construction of the two reactors at a June 17 Cabinet meeting. An ad hoc committee will be set up to determine whether to suspend construction permanently or to resume construction.
KHNP, a state-run enterprise in charge of nuclear energy, approved the temporary suspension plan at a board meeting last Friday, despite fierce opposition from its union and residents who live near the site where the reactors are being built.
Construction will now be halted for three months. The emergency board meeting was controversial as it was held at a hotel instead of the KHNP headquarters to avoid conflict with the union and residents.
"Construction has virtually stopped at the site following the government request. After a number of board meetings and a legal examination, most of the board members agreed that we should accept the government request," Lee said.
He pointed out that otherwise lingering uncertainties would have negatively affected nuclear reactor safety and KHNP suppliers and workers.
However, they will continue with minimum work such as pouring concrete on rebars. "If the ad hoc committee decides to resume construction, any rebars that have not been covered by concrete may have become rusty, negatively affecting the quality of the building housing the reactors."
The CEO stressed that KHNP opposes permanent suspension.
"Of course, we don't agree with permanent suspension. The board decided that we should actively cooperate with the government request for temporary suspension to prevent permanent suspension. We will be actively looking to affect the decision of the ad hoc committee."
He also pointed to the damage to the regional economy and added that KHNP will try to maintain workers at the site as much as it can to help this.
He said the three month suspension will incur around 100 billion won in losses.
The CEO added that the suspension of the reactor construction will negatively affect Korea's nuclear industry as well as exports of KHNP technology.
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