Experts urge Assembly to pass bill on radioactive waste storage facilities
A temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant site in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
Korea must start building new permanent storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste as the current temporary storage at nuclear power plants will begin reaching saturation point in 2030, according to scholars and industry experts, Thursday.
The future of radioctive waste storage is in the hands of the National Assembly where the country's Special Act on Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste awaits its passage. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have horns locked over details of how large the new permanent storage facility must be, keeping the act's passage at an impasse.
The experts and government officials are urging the current 21st session of the National Assembly to pass the special act before it ends in May as a matter of the utmost importance. They warned that if the 21st session doesn't pass it, it will take up to two additional years to get the proposal back on the table again.
The delay will lead to the shutdown of nuclear power plants with inadequate waste storage facilities and raise electricity bills for households, they said.
Members of a pro-nuclear energy civic group stage a protest in front of the National Assembly, Wednesday, demanding the 21st session of the National Assembly pass the Special Act on Managing High-Level Radioactive Waste. Newsis
Nuclear engineering professor Chung Bum-jin from Kyung Hee University said that discussion over the size of new nuclear waste storage facilities is inappropriate and unnecessary regarding the pending special act. He said that discussion should be commenced separately.
"The matter of size was a condition insisted by DPK lawmakers to prevent nuclear power plants from operating continuously," Chung said. "The matter is now blocking the whole discussion, preventing its passage. It's unjust."
Eighteen nuclear reactors in the country are now expected to see their temporary storage facilities saturated over seven years, according to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the country's state-run nuclear power plant operator.
Six units of the Hanbit plant in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, will see their storage facilities full by 2030. Six units of Hanul plant and one unit of Shin Hanul plant in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, will reach waste storage capacity by 2031, and three reactors of Kori Nuclear Power Plant and two of Shin Kori Nuclear Power Plant, both in Busan, by 2032.
KHNP CEO Hwang Joo-ho said that including 18,600 tons of high-level radioactive wastes that have been generated by 25 reactors now in operation, some 44,700 tons of high-level radioactive waste to be generated from the country's 32 nuclear reactors will need a plan for storage.
Hanul Nuclear Power Plant in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, March 2023 / Korea Times file
"Whether we decide to embrace or ditch nuclear power, decision-makers of this generation are liable for finalizing and building the new storage for high-level radioactive waste," Hwang said in a meeting with journalists in Sejong, Tuesday. "It's our duty after we've enjoyed all the benefits and economic boons offered by the energy source."
Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Choi Nam-ho said last month that the special act's passage should no longer be delayed so that the country can prepare for the complete lifecycle of a nuclear power plant.
"Management of radioactive waste is a mandatory condition for safe operation of nuclear power plants," Choi said. "The government will see to it that the National Assembly's 21st session pass the special act."
The country in 2015 completed construction of a low- to medium-level radioactive waste storage facility in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Preparation for high-level radioactive waste storage started the following year, with the plan passed and reconfirmed by three incumbent administrations including that of Yoon Suk Yeol. But only eight out of 10 conditions have been agreed to by both parties, which are still at odds over the storage capacity and operational life of the facilities.