Ministry of Industry: "We Will Continue to Steadily Promote Energy Transition"

Statement on the Audit Results of the Early Shutdown of Wolsong Unit 1
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy "Disagrees with the Audit Service's Conclusion of 'Unreasonably Low Economic Feasibility'"

On the afternoon of the 20th, the Wolsong Unit 1, which has been shut down, is seen at the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant in Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju-si. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will continue to steadfastly pursue energy transition policies."

On the 20th at 2 p.m., the Ministry expressed this stance regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's decision on the validity of the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1, stating that "the economic feasibility of continuing to operate Wolseong Unit 1 was evaluated unreasonably lower than that of halting its operation."

At around 6:40 p.m., the Ministry released a statement reminding that "the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out the limitation that this audit result cannot be seen as a comprehensive judgment on the validity of the immediate suspension decision of Wolseong Unit 1."

It added, "Since no issues were confirmed with the early shutdown decision of Wolseong Unit 1, which comprehensively considered safety, regional acceptance, and other factors beyond economic feasibility, this will not affect future policy implementation regarding the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1."

Rather, the Ministry expressed difficulty in agreeing with the Board of Audit and Inspection's conclusion that the Ministry "interfered in the economic feasibility analysis process, undermining its reliability and unreasonably lowering the economic feasibility."

The Ministry stated, "We find it difficult to agree with the Board of Audit and Inspection's view that the Ministry inappropriately intervened in the process based on the exchange of opinions during the economic feasibility analysis."

It further explained, "The Ministry attended the process at the request of the accounting firm and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and only provided opinions on nuclear power policy directions, without improperly instructing to change specific variables."

The Ministry emphasized that the judgment to immediately suspend operations at that time was also correct. It said, "Considering the intent of the Moon Jae-in administration's national agenda and the background of the early shutdown policy formulation, it remains a reasonable policy judgment even at this point."

It added, "It is necessary to consider that Wolseong Unit 1 has been controversial in various aspects such as economic feasibility, safety, and acceptability (environmental aspects) since the continuous operation promotion stage in 2009, and that early shutdown was adopted as a pledge and national agenda."

The Ministry expressed regret that "the application for exemption from active administration for employees who actively carried out administration to promote the national agenda was not accepted in this audit," and stated, "We will announce our position on whether to request a re-examination of the audit after further review of detailed issues."

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