ED Expedient decision

Authorities should overhaul nuclear phase-out policy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has decided to extend the expiration period of a building plan for two new nuclear reactors by two years until the end of 2023. Yet the decision is seen as an expedient measure to evade responsibility for President Moon Jae-in's controversial nuclear phase-out policy.

The extension came Monday, just five days before the authorized construction period for the Shinhanul 3 and 4 reactors in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, expired. It was made at the request of the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) which obtained the building license for the reactors in February 2017 under the Park Geun-hye administration.

The construction of the nuclear reactors, however, was suspended in December 2017 under the phase-out policy of President Moon who took office in May that year after Park's impeachment and subsequent imprisonment for corruption. If the construction period expired as initially scheduled, there would arise a set of problems, including damage compensation suits from contractors as well as a potential backlash from the nuclear power industry and people advocating for atomic energy use.

The decision is apparently aimed at avoiding potential damage suits from Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and other contractors which have so far spent 780 billion won ($704 million) on the two-reactor project. If the project is cancelled, the KHNP will face a two-year ban on other power generation projects, including those related to solar and wind energy. The utility operator has managed to avoid the ban with the extended building period.

The government, for its part, has only tried to avoid a backlash from both advocates and opponents of nuclear power generation. But it cannot evade criticism for passing the buck on to the next government as Moon's presidency will end in May 2022.

Now the administration should overhaul its nuclear phase-out policy which has touched off a controversy over Moon's unilateral drive to shut down existing reactors and stop building new ones. His policy has been attacked for being too idealistic and based on left-leaning ideology. No one would oppose such a policy if it was possible to immediately replace nuclear power with other energy sources such as solar and wind power.

As critics point out, it is still too early to wean Korea, a country with no oil and gas deposits, off nuclear energy. The nation still has a long way to go before it can fully harness renewables, and so it is realistic to maintain nuclear reactors to reduce its heavy dependence on electricity generated by coal and other dirty fossil fuels. They are also necessary to meet the government's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

More worrisome is that the Moon administration has ignored growing calls from nuclear experts, industrialists and the public for an overhaul of its energy policy to keep the nuclear energy sector going. In fact, the country has successfully developed nuclear reactors and gained a reputation for the safe operation of nuclear power plants. It showed its technology prowess by building a plant in the United Arab Emirates. It is difficult to understand why the government is trying to undo all this success.