Will We Repeat the 'Failed Nuclear Phase-Out'? [Energy-topia]

On the 10th, over 300 figures gathered at the Westin Chosun Hotel Seoul for the New Year's meeting of the nuclear power sector. The host, the Korea Nuclear Industry Association, stated that this was the largest event in history. From early morning, nuclear industry personnel from all over the country, including Gyeongju, Changwon, and Daejeon, gathered in small groups in the hotel lobby to exchange greetings. Given last year's achievements, such as Team Korea being selected as the preferred bidder for the 24 trillion won-scale Dukovany nuclear power plant construction project in the Czech Republic and winning a 1.2 trillion won nuclear power plant remodeling project in Romania, the New Year's meeting appeared outwardly vibrant.

However, nuclear industry insiders met that day openly shared the worries that had been building up in their hearts. There were concerns everywhere that the nuclear power ecosystem might revert to the past phase-out policy before it could fully normalize. An executive from a nuclear power equipment company said, "During the Moon Jae-in administration, the phase-out policy left us with no work, and we went through dark days. Now that we finally feel some relief, I worry that if the government changes, the phase-out policy might return."

These concerns are not entirely unfounded. The major opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, has refused to receive the 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand from the National Assembly. The plan is finalized after being reported to the parliamentary standing committee and reviewed by the Electricity Policy Deliberation Committee. With the opposition refusing to receive the report, the reporting process has effectively turned into a deliberation procedure. The Democratic Party has been demanding an increase in the share of renewable energy and a reduction in nuclear power. In response, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has created an 'adjustment plan' to persuade the opposition, reducing the plan for large nuclear power plant construction from three units to two by 2038 and increasing solar power generation capacity by 2.4 gigawatts (GW). On the 14th, the Democratic Party held a meeting of the Policy Coordination Committee for Trade, Industry, and SMEs but failed to finalize the reporting schedule.

Democratic Party lawmakers are under pressure from progressive environmental groups that form their support base. However, contrary to the claims of some anti-nuclear environmental groups, the international community has reached a consensus that both nuclear power and renewable energy are necessary to respond to the climate crisis. In September last year, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who visited Korea, responded to a reporter's question about environmentalists opposing additional nuclear power plant construction due to safety and nuclear waste disposal concerns by stating firmly, "Nuclear power is safe," and "We cannot afford to exclude nuclear power." There is no time to debate between nuclear power or renewable energy in the face of the climate crisis. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), a climate monitoring agency, the global average temperature in 2024 has exceeded 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Already, countries around the world are focusing on nuclear power as a way to secure energy security without carbon emissions. France, where nuclear power accounts for about 70% of electricity production, exported a record 89 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity last year. Germany, which pursued a nuclear phase-out, sourced 54% of its electricity from renewable energy last year. However, as sunlight decreased during winter, the share of renewable energy dropped to 18% in December. Germany ultimately had to rely on coal and gas power generation and even imported electricity from France.

Unlike Germany, South Korea is an isolated country that cannot import electricity from neighboring countries when renewable energy is insufficient. This underscores the importance of nuclear power as a baseload power source. Even the Biden administration, which has been proactive in expanding renewable energy, announced last November plans to triple nuclear power generation by 2050.

At the nuclear power sector New Year's meeting, Democratic Party lawmaker Heo Seong-mu, the only opposition member to attend, emphasized that the Democratic Party's external messaging on nuclear power is changing significantly. This year, the Democratic Party did not cut the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's nuclear power budget. It is hoped that the Democratic Party has learned lessons from the past failures of the phase-out policy.

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