Korea's nuclear safety watchdog has finally given conditional approval for operations to commence at the Shin-Hanul No. 1 nuclear power plant, which had been delayed since its completion in April last year. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission gave the go-ahead to the 1,400-megawatt reactor in Uljin, 330 km southeast of Seoul, after eight hours of heated discussion last Friday. Its operation has been put off for 15 months due to “safety concerns” raised by the Moon Jae-in administration, which is seeking to phase out nuclear power generation and shift to renewable energy.
Two factors were pivotal in reversing the government's stance ― a snow-balling economic loss and expected power shortages. According to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corp. (KHNP), the cost of managing the idled plant amounts to 1.1 billion won ($958,000) a day, and incurs an additional cost of 540 billion won if operation is delayed for 16 months. The change by the Cabinet under new Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum also played a role. “I think it is problematic for the government to mothball a newly dedicated power plant,” Kim said in his reply to lawmakers' questions.
The Moon administration also seems to have become aware of the criticism about its policy to “denuclearize” the country's energy mix too rapidly. Pro-nuclear energy experts have pointed out that the government needs to adjust its pace to phase out such power plants until the country attains sufficient commercial viability with renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind power. Rep. Song Young-gil, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), said recently, “We need to introduce small modular reactors (SMRs) to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” signaling a change in the ruling camp's energy policy stance.
However, it is not just difficult but undesirable to flip-flop on the country's energy policy. Considering the huge investment poured into building renewable energy infrastructure, the environment-friendly energy industry and the unchanged need for developing related technology, the government should keep a balance between its policy of nuclear phase-out and ways of making the most of the existing reactors. The conditional approval of the Shin-Hanul No. 1 reactor indicates that whoever takes power next May will have to come up with a better energy policy.