'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Tritium' Public-Private Joint Investigation Team Faces Crisis Just One Month After Launch

Citizen Representative Jeong Hyun-geol, Standing Chair of Gyeongju Environmental Movement Union, 'Officially Resigns'
'Radiation Exposure Equivalent to 1g of Anchovies' Professor Jeong Yong-hoon's Participation Raises Fairness Controversy

Panoramic view of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] Regarding the controversy over tritium detection at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant site in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, the public-private joint investigation team launched last February is facing a crisis after one month, with a civic group member resigning.

The main issue was the fairness problem that arose when Professor Yonghoon Jeong of KAIST's Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, who gained attention for his remark that "the annual tritium exposure of nearby residents is at the level of 1g of anchovies," was included as a member of the investigation team.

Among the total 25 members, Jeong Hyung-geol, standing chairman of the Gyeongju Environmental Movement Union and one of the three civic group members participating in the investigation team, announced on the 16th, "I have decided to resign as I judged that it is impossible to conduct a transparent and objective investigation."

In his resignation statement that day, Chairman Jeong raised suspicions of pro-nuclear forces' interference, saying, "Although the monitoring organization’s steering committee resolved to exclude Professor Jeong, a biased expert on one side, from the investigation team and instead recommend a structural field expert, this decision was overturned at the kickoff meeting."

He continued, "Afterwards, I hoped the investigation team’s composition would normalize, but the core party of the controversy, Professor Yonghoon Jeong, refuses to resign, and the three geological experts originally appointed also resigned together, worsening the situation. With other experts patched in, and the current situation where the nuclear regulatory bodies, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, refuse to participate, I can no longer trust the investigation team," explaining his reasons for resignation.

Chairman Jeong urged, "The public-private joint investigation team, which has lost fairness and objectivity, will not be trusted by the public and local residents regardless of the results it produces. The mayor of Gyeongju, who is responsible for the lives and safety of citizens, should disband the investigation team and completely reorganize it even now."

Meanwhile, the Anti-Nuclear Gyeongju Citizens’ Joint Action, composed of civic and social organizations including the Gyeongju Environmental Movement Union, has strongly opposed Professor Yonghoon Jeong’s participation in the investigation team, raising concerns about the bias of the private environmental monitoring organization of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and radioactive waste disposal site even before the team’s launch in early February.

The private environmental monitoring organization, chaired by the mayor of Gyeongju, launched the investigation team on the 2nd of last month regarding the tritium detection controversy at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, consisting of 25 members: 8 from the monitoring organization, 2 city council members, 1 Gyeongju city official, 3 civic groups, 6 experts, and 5 resident representatives.

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