Ministry of Industry: "Regret over Chairman Jeong Jeonghwa's 'Half-hearted Public Debate' Evaluation... Proceeding Without Setbacks"

Jeong Jeong-hwa, Chairperson of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Policy Review Committee
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] On the 26th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expressed regret over Jeong Jeong-hwa, the chairperson of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Policy Review Committee, resigning and evaluating the committee's public deliberation process as a 'half-hearted public deliberation.'

The ministry issued a press release on the same day stating, "We express regret that all efforts made to fairly and objectively gather opinions from the public and residents of nuclear power plant areas were evaluated as 'unfair' and 'half-hearted public deliberation' due to the non-participation of civil society groups."

It added, "To fulfill its role as a fair opinion-gathering management body, the committee was composed of neutral experts by referring to the public deliberation case of Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6," and emphasized, "Since the formation of the citizen participation group and the deliberation process are already underway according to the principles decided by the committee, the opinion-gathering procedures will be carried out without disruption."

Regarding Chairperson Jeong's demand that the re-deliberation should be promoted not by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the department in charge of nuclear policy, but by an organization under the direct control of the president or the prime minister, the ministry rebutted, "According to the Radioactive Waste Management Act, the committee's functions and activity period are stipulated as matters under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy."

The ministry further stated, "We hope that the anti-nuclear civil society groups actively participate in the re-deliberation," and criticized, "It is self-contradictory to emphasize the importance of public deliberation while refusing to participate in the process and claiming unfairness outside the discussion venue." Anti-nuclear civil society organizations have so far refused to participate in the discussions themselves.

Last year, the Review Committee was launched with 15 members, but two resigned and two were absent for a long time, so it is known that effectively 11 members, including Chairperson Jeong, have been attending the meetings.

As the Review Committee faced disruptions, a red light was immediately turned on for discussions on the expansion of the MACSTOR at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant. The government and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power hold the position that expansion work must begin in August before the MACSTOR reaches saturation. They are concerned that if discussions continue to be delayed, the worst-case scenario of having to shut down Wolseong Units 2 to 4 could occur.

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