Gov’t plans to proceed with reactors

The government plans to build an additional six to eight nuclear power plants by 2035 in accordance with its second national energy plan set in October, which was reported to the National Assembly yesterday.

Vice Energy Minister Han Jin-hyun reported the plan to lawmakers ahead of a public hearing today.

According to the plan, the share of nuclear energy will be 29 percent of the power supply by 2035. In October, private institutes and experts proposed that the government maintain the percentage between 22 percent and 29 percent.

Currently, nuclear power plants account for 26.4 percent of the nation’s total energy production.

In the government’s first energy plan in 2008, the percentage of nuclear was 41 percent, and the intent was to gradually reduce reliance on nuclear energy.

“The final proportion of nuclear energy has been confirmed as the government refrains from excessive expansion or reduction of nuclear power plants,” said Han.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy forecasts total energy consumption will grow 0.9 percent annually, with a 2.5 percent growth in electricity demand per year. By 2035, total demand for power is estimated to be 70.2 million TOE (tonnes of oil equivalent).

BY SONG SU-HYUN [ssh@joongang.co.kr]