Avoiding a Conclusion on Wolseong Unit 1 Feasibility... Dodging a Fatal Blow to the Moon Administration's Nuclear Phase-Out Policy

Board of Audit and Inspection's Public Audit on Early Shutdown Feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1
"Unit 1's Economic Feasibility Was Unreasonably Undervalued," Points Out
However, "Only Economic Feasibility Was Assessed... Limitations in Overall Feasibility Evaluation"

On the 20th, when the Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed the audit results on the "Validity of the Early Shutdown Decision of Wolseong Unit 1," the Anti-Nuclear Civic Action group urged the shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 in front of the Board of Audit and Inspection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) announced on the 20th that the 'economic feasibility,' which was the key basis for the early shutdown decision of Wolseong Unit 1, was unreasonably undervalued. However, the audit mainly focused on the economic feasibility evaluation and did not conclude whether the government's early shutdown decision was appropriate or inappropriate. Following this announcement, the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy avoided a fatal blow, but controversies surrounding the BAI, such as allegations of external pressure and audit resistance, are expected to intensify.

The BAI released the final report of the 'Audit on the Validity of the Early Shutdown Decision of Wolseong Unit 1,' which had been fraught with noise for over a year, this afternoon. This came 386 days after the National Assembly requested the audit on September 30 of last year, and 234 days after the statutory audit deadline at the end of February.

The BAI revealed that employees of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) knowingly used a sales price in the economic feasibility evaluation report that was set lower than the actual price without correcting it, and that employees of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) were also involved in the decision-making process. The BAI stated, "The economic feasibility of continuing operation compared to immediate shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 was unreasonably undervalued."

However, the BAI did not make a clear judgment on whether the government's early nuclear plant shutdown decision, which was the purpose of the audit, was appropriate or inappropriate.

The BAI explained that this audit examined the appropriateness of the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1, and "the appropriateness of the policy decision to pursue the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 is outside the scope of this audit."

It added, "The shutdown decision was made by comprehensively considering factors such as safety and local acceptance in addition to economic feasibility," and "issues related to safety or local acceptance were excluded from the scope of this audit."

The BAI emphasized, "There are limitations in viewing the results of this audit as a comprehensive judgment on the validity of the immediate shutdown decision of Wolseong Unit 1."

Additionally, the BAI requested disciplinary action against MOTIE employees who obstructed the audit by deleting data related to this audit. The president of KHNP received a caution for failing to manage and supervise acts that undermined the reliability of the economic feasibility evaluation.

If this audit had concluded that "the government's early nuclear plant shutdown decision was inappropriate," the administration that pursued the nuclear phase-out policy would have inevitably suffered damage. However, by deferring the validity evaluation citing the focus on 'economic feasibility,' the government's nuclear phase-out policy was relieved of some burden.

On the afternoon of the 20th, the Wolsong Unit 1, which has been shut down, can be seen at the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant in Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju-si. On this day, the Board of Audit and Inspection will release the audit conclusion on the "appropriateness of the early shutdown decision of Wolsong Unit 1."

Although the audit, which dragged on for over a year, has been concluded in this way, the political aftershocks are expected to intensify further.

Previously, as weight was given to the BAI's tentative conclusion that the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1 was undervalued, conflicts arose between Chairman Choi Jae-hyung and the ruling party.

Along with suspicions of external pressure on the audit results, reports of clashes between Chairman Choi and pro-government audit commissioners, as well as controversies over coercive investigations of current and former officials of KHNP and MOTIE by the BAI, were raised.

Chairman Choi stated at the National Assembly audit on the 15th, "This audit faced significant resistance," adding, "After the National Assembly's audit request, MOTIE officials deleted all related data, which took time to recover, and the process of taking statements was also quite difficult."

Yoon Hee-seok, spokesperson for the People Power Party, immediately issued a verbal comment after the audit results were announced, claiming, "The BAI's audit result that the economic feasibility of continuing operation of Wolseong Unit 1 was undervalued is a practical death sentence for the Moon Jae-in government's nuclear phase-out policy, which was pursued without principles and without evidence."

Meanwhile, the Blue House did not issue any particular statement regarding the audit results. A senior Blue House official said, "We will issue a statement if necessary after reviewing the full report," but added, "It seems there will be no special statement. The relevant ministries will provide explanations."

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