Despite 'Phasing Out Nuclear Power,' Only Nuclear Plants Are Trusted... Early Deployment of 3 Nuclear Reactors Amid Power Crisis Concerns

This Week's Power Supply Reserve Margin Stabilizes at Half Level of 4%, Raising 'Blackout' Concerns
Government Advances Maintenance Schedule, Starting Operation of Shinwolsong Unit 1, Shin-Kori Unit 4, and Wolseong Unit 3 This Week

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] With daytime temperatures reaching up to 36 degrees Celsius this week and concerns over a power crisis, the government has mobilized all available power resources, including the early deployment of three nuclear reactors that were under maintenance. Although the current administration has consistently pursued a nuclear phase-out policy, it is now being criticized for relying on nuclear power amid the power supply crisis.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 19th that three nuclear reactors?Shin-Wolsong Unit 1, Shin-Kori Unit 4, and Wolseong Unit 3?that had been offline due to planned preventive maintenance will be sequentially restarted within this month.

Shin-Wolsong Unit 1 (1000 MW) received approval from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission on the 16th and began operation on the 18th.

Shin-Kori Unit 4 (1400 MW) was shut down due to a fire in the turbine auxiliary equipment but the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission completed its investigation on the 15th and is currently awaiting approval for restart. Once approved, it is expected to be connected to the grid and contribute to power supply by the 21st. This is reportedly about a week earlier than the originally scheduled restart date.

Wolseong Unit 3 (700 MW) will be able to supply power starting from the 23rd once the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission approves its restart according to the planned maintenance schedule.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "With the restart of these three nuclear reactors, an additional 2150 MW of nuclear power supply is expected to be secured in the fourth week of July compared to last week."

The government’s full mobilization of power resources comes as a heatwave is forecasted this week with daytime temperatures reaching up to 36 degrees Celsius. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, increased industrial power consumption combined with household cooling demand has led the ministry to predict that the power supply reserve margin could drop to around 4.2%, less than half of the stable threshold of 10% this week.

Energy industry experts point out that the government’s aggressive nuclear phase-out policy has caused instability in power supply. If Hanul Units 1 and 2 (each with a generation capacity of 1.4 GW) had started commercial operation as originally planned in April 2018 and February 2019 respectively, and Wolseong Unit 1 (0.6 GW) had not been prematurely shut down, the reserve capacity would have increased by 3.4 GW.

Above all, the early deployment of the three nuclear reactors currently under maintenance this week is seen as proof that despite the administration’s consistent pursuit of a nuclear phase-out policy, operating nuclear power plants is inevitable to ensure stable power supply.

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