Min Byung-joo "Imbalance in Nuclear Power Workforce Supply and Demand, the Biggest Issue in the Nuclear Industry"

Interview with Min Byung-joo, President of the Korean Nuclear Society
Declining Youth and Retirement of Baby Boomers
Advocates Resuming Construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4
"To Sustain the Nuclear Ecosystem, Full-Cycle Development Is Necessary"

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Bo-kyung and Moon Chae-seok] "Due to the nuclear phase-out policy, excellent young people are avoiding nuclear engineering, while the professional workforce is aging, leading to a large number of retirements all at once."

Min Byung-joo, President of the Korean Nuclear Society (photo), said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 17th, "The supply-demand imbalance of experts capable of safely operating and managing nuclear facilities is the biggest problem facing our nuclear power industry." It is predicted that not only is there a shortage of new personnel, but the baby boomer generation (born 1955?1963) in nuclear research and industry will soon retire en masse, depleting experienced professionals. According to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), more than 50% of their workforce has less than 10 years of experience. President Min expressed concern that "the leakage of accumulated knowledge and experience could negatively impact the safe operation and management of nuclear facilities." The society is currently building a knowledge competency database (DB) on nuclear industry personnel in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to prepare for future recruitment and job-seeking difficulties in the nuclear sector.

President Min expects some changes in the government's nuclear phase-out policy following the general election in April, amid likely electricity rate hikes. He explained that relying solely on renewable energy policies makes it difficult to simultaneously address environmental issues such as fine dust and the pressure to raise electricity prices. He said, "The government's realistic concerns will be conveyed to the political sphere, leading to changes in the nuclear phase-out policy," adding, "If public opinion changes, policies will follow." He emphasized, "Every energy source has its pros and cons," and stressed the need to comprehensively consider Korea's economy, public safety, security, and environment to prepare a national plan for the next hundred years.

President Min mentioned the necessity of resuming construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4, stating, "To maintain the nuclear industry ecosystem, the entire cycle of 'construction-operation-decommissioning' must be developed in balance." He added, "Due to the sudden suspension of planned projects, not only the managing institutions but also related businesses are facing economic difficulties," and stressed, "For stable nuclear power exports, construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 must be resumed."

Before his term expires in August, President Min announced plans to establish an expert forum by bringing together academic societies related to nuclear power, renewable energy, coal, and oil. He intends to actively propose an energy mix policy suited to Korea's circumstances to the government, excluding the 'black-and-white logic' between nuclear power and renewable energy. He said, "Korea's energy policy decisions for climate change response should not be fragmented," and added, "We aim to create objective and scientific alternatives through expert discussions for the country's sustainable development."

Additionally, President Min emphasized that the government should promptly present a policy direction for spent nuclear fuel. Although the government recently approved the expansion of seven Macstor temporary storage facilities for Wolseong Units 2?4, there are no intermediate or permanent storage facilities, which are fundamental solutions for high-level radioactive waste. He said, "I hope the government's policy on spent nuclear fuel treatment will be decided quickly through a public discussion process," warning, "If delayed further, it will become difficult to proceed with nuclear power plant decommissioning."

Meanwhile, the society has released Korea's first book for the general public titled "Understanding Radon Correctly." They also plan to publish a report on Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water before the Tokyo Summer Olympics in July.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.