Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 28 2022

AsiaElec NUCLEAR AsiaElec

South Korea aims for 30%

nuclear by 2030

SOUTH KOREA THE government of South Korea has announced In contrast to neighbouring Japan to the east
its intent to source 30% of its energy from nuclear and Taiwan to the south, where anti-nuclear
power by the end of the decade. activists and the ruling government in the case of
Central to Seoul’s plans is the resumption of Taiwan have long campaigned against restarting
construction at both the Shin-Hanul III and IV NPPs mothballed in the wake of the 2011 Fuk-
nuclear reactor facilities in the country. ushima nuclear disaster, Seoul has managed to
Work was halted at both sites in 2017, under hold on to its nuclear infrastructure.
the administration of former president Moon In 2021, nuclear power still provided an esti-
Jae-in. President Moon’s government had come mated 28% of all South Korea’s power generation.
to power in 2017 and had promised to eventually In a statement released to the media, South
shut down all of the nation’s existing 24 nuclear Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
reactors. indicated, however, that achieving the 30%
In keeping with a campaign pledge made sourced from nuclear by 2030 is dependent on
ahead of the 2022 presidential elections earlier “the premise that nuclear plants still under con-
in the year, newly elected President Yoon Seok- struction will achieve normal operation, and that
yeol, however, pushed for an increase in nuclear those currently in operation will achieve contin-
power dependency across the Korean peninsula. ued operation.”
“Had we not been foolish over the past five It is understood construction work at
years and further reinforced the nuclear power Shin-Hanul III and IV to this end will likely
ecosystem, we probably would not have any resume in early 2025, following safety checks and
competitors now,” President Yoon said of his government approvals being met.
predecessor’s nuclear policy following a visit to Alongside President Yoon’s efforts to breathe
a reactor production site in the country in June. new life into South Korea’s nuclear power infra-
It is President Yoon’s efforts to increase South structure, efforts at moving towards reducing
Korea’s presence on the international stage as a fossil fuel dependency are also drawing positive
leading exporter of nuclear technology that has attention.
won him wider support in resuming a nuclear Government figures project a reduction of
power programme at home. over 20% on fossil fuel imports helped in large
To do so, the central government has part by keeping the nation’s nuclear programme
announced plans to export up to ten nuclear online.
power plants (NPPs) over the next eight years. Not all in Korea are happy with the return to
Visits by South Korean government officials NPP construction, though.
to this end have already taken place with his In a recent editorial, the popular Korea Times
counterparts in the Czech Republic and Poland. said “Nuclear power, of course, is not an ideal
Similar trips to the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, source of energy, compared to renewables such
Slovenia, South Africa and the UK are antici- as solar and wind power. But it is seen as one of
pated in the coming months. the most viable options (to) help the country
A blueprint has also been revealed for a small achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions.”
modular reactor (SMR) to be developed in Increased work opportunities across Korea
roughly the same timeframe. are also helping increase support for nuclear,
Using an initial government investment with many of the forecast 100,000 new jobs in the
of $300mn, early design formats on the SMR energy sector in the next few years likely to be a
will leave it with a generation capacity of up to, direct result of nuclear and associated industries
but not exceeding, 300 MW when complete in expanding operations.™
2028-2029.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 28 13•July•2022