Moon's turnaround on nuclear power leaves many stumped

Economy

Published: 01 Mar. 2022, 12:59

Moon's turnaround on nuclear power leaves many stumped

President Moon Jae-in attends a meeting on the global energy supply chain held at the Blue House on Feb. 25. [NEWS1]

President Moon Jae-in stressed the importance of nuclear power “as a main source of electricity” on Feb. 25, leaving the nuclear energy industry stumped over the sudden shift of tone.

“Nuclear power plants should be fully utilized as a main source of electricity for the next 60 years,” said Moon during a meeting on the global energy supply at the Blue House on Feb. 25, as global crude oil prices surge due to conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Moon emphasized it is vital to export nuclear power plants and to “secure the globally competitive, industry-leading technology in the nuclear sector.”

It was deemed as a sudden turnaround from the government’s energy transition plan to wean the country off nuclear and coal-fired plants.

On Jun. 19, 2017, three months into the president’s term, Moon proclaimed he would phase out nuclear power at a ceremony marking the decommissioning of Korea’s oldest nuclear reactor, the Kori 1, in Busan.

“[The government] will scrap new nuclear programs and won’t extend the lifespan of existing facilities,” pledged Moon, saying that “nuclear power exit is an inevitable trend.”

The Moon administration is set to reduce the number of nuclear plants to 17 by 2034 from the current 24, with two nuclear power plants already decommissioned in 2017 and 2019.

The anti-nuclear policy sparked strong backlash.

“[The Moon administration] overturned the 5-year-old government stance on nuclear phaseout all of sudden, saying that it will focus on nuclear energy over the next 60 years,” wrote Yoon Suk-yeol, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate, on his social media account on Feb. 26.

Yoon strongly criticized the government, arguing that Korea “wasted time for nothing due to the government’s misjudgment.”

Moon also ordered that two Shin-Hanul nuclear reactors in Uljin, North Gyeongsang, be fully functional as soon as possible. However, experts pointed out that it was the government that suspended the construction projects in the first place.

The operation plans for Shin Hanul-1 and -2 reactor, which were originally slated to go into action in April 2017 and April 2018, were put off for 59 months due to safety issues.

Construction site of the Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors, located in Ulsan. [YONHAP]

The construction of the Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors in Ulsan was halted under the Moon administration’s phaseout policy as well.

The Shin-Kori 5 was set to start operation last October, but was delayed for 29 months. The government cited a safety issue following an earthquake in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, in 2016 and the risk of a possible airplane collision, before finally approving the trial run last July.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy countered the criticism, saying that Moon’s statement only “reaffirmed the government's stance to start the nuclear energy phaseout in full swing after 60 years, and utilize the existing nuclear plants in the meantime.”

The ministry emphasized that there will be no change regarding the energy policy.

The current situation, however, is much different from five years ago.

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) posted a record operating loss of 5.86 trillion won ($4.85 billion) last year due to soaring oil prices, as the government disapproved an electricity rate increase to curb pandemic-driven inflation. Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine also caused global crude prices to skyrocket, putting a strain on the stable energy supply.

“President Moon is merely dodging the blame without making actual changes ahead of the presidential election,” said Joo Han-gyu, a Seoul National University professor of nuclear engineering.

Urging that projects be sped up means nothing when the reactors are slated to start operation in two or three years and the crisis is impending right now, argued Joo.

“What’s done is done — companies went out of business and people lost their jobs due to the suspension of nuclear power plant construction projects,” said Joo.

Whether nuclear power can be a base source of electricity over the next six decades is an issue as well.

A newly built nuclear power plant has a lifespan of 60 years. If the government follows through with its plan to not extend the lifespan of existing reactors, 10 nuclear plants, including the Kori-2 in Busan, will be shut down by 2030.

The United States extends a nuclear plant’s lifespan up to 80 years.

Nuclear-generated energy covered 17.5 percent of the total electricity in February, according to Korea Power Exchange data. In a carbon neutrality scheme published last October, the government aimed to reduce that total to 6.1-7.2 percent by 2050.

Renewable energy, on the other hand, will take up 60.1 to 70.7 percent of the total electricity generation.

In this scenario, nuclear-generated energy will not and cannot “be fully utilized as a main source of electricity for the next 60 years,” unless the lifespan of the nuclear reactor is extended.

“Operation plans for the Shin-Hanul 1, 2 and Shin-Kori 5, 6 reactors that Moon mentioned are already underway,” said Yoo Seung-hoon, professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology specializing in energy policy.

Yoo pointed out that Moon should have discussed “resuming the construction of Shin-Hanul 3 and 4” in Uljin, North Gyeongsang, which was halted in 2017 due to safety issues, or nuclear reactor lifespan extension instead.

A press conference is held at the Blue House in March, 2021, demanding the government to lift the suspension on the Shin-Hanul 3 and 4 construction projects in Uljin, North Gyeongsang. [YONHAP]

People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon vowed to completely overturn the Moon administration's nuclear energy policy and resume the suspended construction of Shin-Hanul 3 and 4.

Yoon’s rival, the ruling Democratic Party’s candidate Lee Jae-myung, said that he plans to cut back on nuclear power generation, rather than completely scrapping the power source.

BY CHO HYEON-SUK, KIM NAM-JUN [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]