Next-Generation Reactors: Sustainable, Safe "Game Changers" Requiring Proactive Government Support

KERI Releases Report Commissioned from Kim Yonghee of KAIST
Recycling Spent Nuclear Fuel to Secure Energy Supply
"Enough to Meet Electricity Demand for Up to 350 Years"

In response to projections that spent nuclear fuel (high-level radioactive waste) generated by operating nuclear power plants will reach full capacity in five years, there have been calls for proactive government support for sustainable "next-generation reactors."

Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5. Photo by Yonhap News

On February 13, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) released a report titled "Trends in Next-Generation Reactor Technology and Policy Tasks," commissioned from Professor Kim Yonghee of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), which outlined these views.

Next-generation reactors are considered more sustainable, safer, and more environmentally friendly compared to conventional large-scale nuclear power plants. In particular, they are gaining attention as an energy source that can simultaneously address the challenges of spent nuclear fuel management and uranium supply. This is because spent nuclear fuel can be reprocessed to separate and reuse uranium.

Currently, due to the absence of permanent disposal facilities for spent nuclear fuel in South Korea, it is stored in large wet storage pools at individual nuclear power plants. Starting with Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant in 2030, these pools are expected to reach full capacity. The report estimates that next-generation reactors could recycle approximately 19,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel currently stored in the country (as of 2023), which could meet domestic electricity demand for up to 350 years.

Furthermore, the report explains that next-generation reactors use coolant at atmospheric pressure (1 atm) instead of high-pressure water (150 atm) for core (the part of the reactor where nuclear fission occurs) cooling, significantly reducing the risk of coolant evaporation or leakage, which are major causes of severe accidents. According to the report, the frequency of severe accidents in next-generation reactors is once every 10 million years, less than 10% of that of current-generation reactors. The report recommends that South Korea should proactively reform its licensing system for next-generation reactors and implement policy measures to secure competitiveness, referencing examples from major countries that support research, development, and demonstration projects.

The report also states that while the development of next-generation reactor technology in South Korea is currently led by the public sector with private sector cooperation through investment, it is necessary to expand access to core public technologies and R&D facilities so that the private sector can take the lead in commercialization. It further emphasizes the need for active support for demonstration projects to ensure that next-generation reactors can achieve commercialization and lead to export achievements. To this end, the report suggests that South Korea should secure domestic demonstration sites early and establish a legal basis for supporting companies that collaborate with foreign governments or enterprises to construct overseas demonstration reactors in order to secure original technologies.

Additionally, the report cites the regulatory reforms undertaken by the United States and the United Kingdom to support next-generation reactor development, and points out that in South Korea, bipartisan agreement has not yet been reached on the 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, which sets nuclear power deployment targets, or on the Radioactive Waste Management Act, which outlines procedures and principles for managing spent nuclear fuel. The report calls for swift innovation of the regulatory system.

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