Four Years of Moon's Nuclear Phase-Out... Local Residents' Trust in Nuclear Power Hits All-Time High

KHNP, Local Acceptance Survey Results Exceed 70 Points This Year
Nuclear Support Continues to Rise Despite Nuclear Phase-Out Policy

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Despite the Moon Jae-in administration pushing a rapid nuclear phase-out policy, including halting construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 and completely scrapping the Cheonjiwon project in Yeongdeok, Gyeongbuk, support from residents around nuclear power plants has risen to an all-time high. This suggests that the very justification for the nuclear phase-out, triggered by safety and acceptance controversies, is being shaken. There are calls to put the brakes on the politically driven nuclear phase-out stance and to slow down the rapid energy transition policy, even at this late stage.

According to data submitted by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to Rep. Han Mu-kyung of the People Power Party on the 30th, a ‘Survey on Acceptance of Areas Surrounding Nuclear Power Plants’ conducted last year targeting 1,000 residents around five nuclear power plants?Gori, Saeul, Wolseong, Hanul, and Hanbit?showed an acceptance score of 70 out of 100. This is the highest score since the survey began in 2006.

KHNP divided the areas around each nuclear power plant headquarters into two zones within approximately a 5 km radius and surveyed residents on their opinions regarding the plant’s contribution to the local economy, safety operations, safety technology levels, whether the plant should be maintained, and their overall positive attitude toward nuclear plant operations.

Acceptance of nuclear power plants dropped to the 40-point range between 2012 and 2014 following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan but has gradually recovered since then. Despite a consistent nuclear phase-out policy, the acceptance score rose from 56.3 points in 2017, when the current government took office, to 69.2 points in 2018, 69 points in 2019, and reached an all-time high of 70.1 points last year. Although the government, experts, and anti-nuclear civic groups raise safety concerns, paradoxically, support from residents most sensitive to accident risks has increased.

On the afternoon of the 24th, many stores located on Uljin Jungang-ro, the largest downtown area in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, were vacant, and the streets were so deserted that no people could be seen. As the construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 was halted, the hollowing out worsened, causing the local economy to collapse and the downtown commercial district to suffer a severe blow.

Support and trust in nuclear power have also steadily increased. According to the office of Rep. Joo Ho-young of the People Power Party, KHNP’s survey results show that support for nuclear power dropped to 39.3% in 2017 but rose to 43.7% in 2018 and 47% in 2019. Trust in nuclear power also improved: in 2017, positive evaluations were 22.8% and negative evaluations 34.1%, but by 2019, positive evaluations rose to 28.6%, surpassing negative evaluations at 27.6%.

Experts agree that Korean society has exaggerated the risks and fears of nuclear power based on political logic. They also advise actively utilizing nuclear power, which is cheap and emits fewer environmental pollutants, to ensure stable electricity supply in the future.

Professor Jeong Dong-wook of the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University said, "Because social leaders emphasized the risks of nuclear power, the perceived risk was much greater than the actual scientific risk, and our society was unnecessarily constrained. Since Korea lacks energy sources, the benefits of operating nuclear power plants outweigh the losses from their suspension. Therefore, we need to reduce environmental cost burdens based on scientific and logical policy decisions."

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