Greenpeace chief urges Yoon to reevaluate nuclear-focused decarbonization plan

The Kori Unit 1 nuclear power plant in Gijang County, Busan / Courtesy of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power

The leader of Greenpeace urged President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, Friday, to "reevaluate" his nuclear-focused decarbonization plan in a letter sent to him on the occasion of Earth Day.

Yoon's transition team is pushing to modify the country's carbon neutrality plans of the outgoing Moon Jae-in administration, which have the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2018 levels by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

The overhaul will likely include reversing Moon's nuclear phase-out policy and changes in the country's energy mix.

"We urge you to reevaluate whether nuclear energy could be safe, fast, and affordable enough to achieve the 1.5 degree C temperature goal," Greenpeace International Executive Director Norma Torres said in the letter.

She said, "Korea already has the highest nuclear power plant density in the world ... we wonder whether further nuclear expansion will be acceptable by the public."

Torres also said, "The unsolved nuclear waste problem is also a major issue you need to consider in your nuclear focused decarbonization plan."

Korea, instead, needs a new, ambitious energy transition strategy to employ more renewable energy coupled with an ambitious fossil fuel and nuclear phase-out plan, according to Torres.

"Needless to say, your term from 2022 to 2027 is a critical time to decide whether Korea will pull its weight and therefore contribute to the global mission to prevent disastrous climate change in time or not," she said. (Yonhap)