Despite Wolsong Nuclear Plant 'All-Stop' Crisis... Nuclear Waste Review Committee to Publicly Discuss Opinions After Late February

Reexamination Committee: "Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Has About 4 More Months of Saturation Margin
Wolseong Units 2-4 MACSTOR Should Start Construction in August, Not April,
and Completion Can Be in March 2022, Not November 2021"

Lee Yun-seok, spokesperson for the Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Policy Review Committee, speaking at a press conference held on the 12th at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in the Government Sejong Complex. (Photo by Moon Chae-seok)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Policy Review Committee announced that after collecting expert opinions by the end of this month, it will conduct public discussions nationwide and in the Gyeongju area, where Wolseong Units 2-4 are located. Despite Jeong Jae-hoon, CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which operates and manages 24 nuclear reactors, pointing out that the temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility (MACSTOR) must be built quickly and criticizing the Review Committee for dragging its feet, the committee declared its intention to proceed "according to principles" within ten days.

On the 12th, Lee Yoon-seok, spokesperson for the Review Committee, stated this at a press conference held at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in the Government Complex Sejong. He first outlined the principles established by the Review Committee. He emphasized that securing "public acceptance (public consensus)" regarding spent nuclear fuel management is essential. With the temporary spent nuclear fuel storage facility (MACSTOR) nearing saturation, the committee reiterated its position to gather opinions in the order of "experts → nationwide public → local residents."

Spokesperson Lee said, "One of the opinions we want to ask the public is about the unit and decision-making method for handling spent nuclear fuel," adding, "Internally, we plan to organize expert opinions to some extent by the end of this month, then conduct nationwide public surveys and regional surveys (such as in Gyeongju)."

He also expressed a different perspective from the premise advocated by CEO Jeong of KHNP as well as the nuclear industry and academia, which states that "Wolseong Units 2-4 will reach saturation by November next year → construction must start by April." According to KHNP disclosures, construction can begin in August, not April.

Spokesperson Lee explained that the "April construction start and November next year saturation" is based on investigation results up to December 2018, and that due to extended nuclear power plant maintenance schedules caused by defects in the Wolseong Unit 3 moisture separator, electricity consumption has decreased, allowing for an additional four months of leeway. He emphasized that the Review Committee is an independent decision-making body separate from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

He said, "Last year was not very hot, and the repair of the moisture separator at Wolseong Unit 3 took time, reducing electricity consumption and delaying the saturation timing," adding, "The Review Committee is independent from the NSSC, but we will closely observe the contents of the 115th NSSC meeting scheduled for the 14th."

The Review Committee stated that nationwide public discussions will focus on interim storage facilities and permanent disposal facilities, while regional discussions will focus on temporary processing facilities. Regarding nationwide public discussions, it has not yet decided whether to conduct them on a large scale comparable to the Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6 public discussions. It also has not decided whether to hold the discussions once or multiple times.

Spokesperson Lee said, "We plan to assess the current status of Korea's spent nuclear fuel and listen again to the opinions of local residents and the public. We intend to start a survey in the Gyeongju area next month and then announce a survey company to begin the opinion collection process," adding, "Public discussions will be conducted while monitoring the COVID-19 situation, and thorough quarantine measures will be implemented."

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