Gori Nuclear Power Plant? "Protecting Residents Comes Before Decommissioning"

Official Position of Gijang-gun on Decommissioning of Gori Unit 1
- Decommission Only After Establishing a Safe Dismantling Plan
- Compensation First for Gijang Residents Who Sacrificed for Decades
- Proceed After Deciding on Spent Nuclear Fuel

Busan Gijang-gun Office Building.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Establish a resident protection plan first, then proceed with dismantling.”

On the 2nd, Busan’s Gijang-gun officially stated that dismantling of Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 should only proceed after a plan is established to perfectly protect residents from radioactive materials that may be generated during the dismantling process.

On the 1st, in Gijang-gun, a public inspection for collecting residents’ opinions on the draft dismantling plan for Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 began, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power held a “Draft Dismantling Plan Resident Briefing Session for Kori Unit 1” at the Jang-an Eup Administrative Welfare Center in Gijang-gun, Busan, targeting local residents.

Gijang-gun made it clear that the government must establish a safe management policy for spent nuclear fuel and a perfect resident protection plan before proceeding with the dismantling of Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.

They also demanded the prompt creation and implementation of measures to compensate for residents’ mental and property damages caused during the dismantling process.

Gijang-gun pointed out in detail the problems that could arise if dismantling is hastily pushed forward without deciding on a spent nuclear fuel management policy.

They emphasized the urgent need for countermeasures against the safety issues during dismantling as well as the indefinite storage of spent nuclear fuel on the Kori Nuclear Power Plant site within Gijang-gun under the pretext of temporary storage.

Currently, the draft dismantling plan does not clearly present specific plans or technologies to protect residents from radioactive material release that may occur during the dismantling process, which raised great concern.

The position is that establishing a dismantling plan that can perfectly protect residents must precede the full-scale dismantling.

Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Gijang-gun, said, “For over 40 years, the residents of Gijang-gun have endured various mental and property damages for the greater cause of power generation driving national development. However, while the government has failed to decide on a mid- to long-term management policy for spent nuclear fuel and left it unattended, residents have suffered damages again during the nuclear power plant dismantling process.”

Mayor Oh added, “If the dismantling of Kori Nuclear Power Plant proceeds, our Gijang residents will have to endure financial damages due to a significant reduction in basic support funds provided to residents around the nuclear power plant and local resource facility taxes paid to local governments, as well as suffer from noise, dust, and vibrations generated during the dismantling process for over a decade. We urge the government to actively devise and promptly implement appropriate compensation measures, such as imposing local resource facility taxes on spent nuclear fuel.”

Gijang-gun plans to soon visit the Blue House, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and other related agencies to deliver their position statement.

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