Nuclear energy included in Korean green taxonomy draft

Economy

Published: 20 Sep. 2022, 17:44 Updated: 20 Sep. 2022, 18:51

Nuclear energy included in Korean green taxonomy draft

Cho Hyun-soo, Environment Ministry director, announces the Yoon Suk-yeol government's green taxonomy, which includes nuclear energy, at the government complex in Sejong on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Nuclear power has been included in Korea's green taxonomy, reversing the stance of the previous administration.

A green taxonomy is a list of economic activities considered environmentally sustainable. It describes activities and assets that can be defined as green.

With nuclear on the list, funding for reactors will be easier and Korea's taxonomy will be more in line with global trends.

The Environment Ministry on Tuesday released its first draft of the nuclear energy green taxonomy. R&D of core technology, testing, constructing new nuclear plants and the operation of nuclear reactors were included.

Public hearings will be held on the issue, and the final version will be issued by the end of the year.

Nuclear energy, including small module rectors (SMR) and accident tolerant fuels (ATF), will qualify for low-interest loans.

The Environment Ministry said it included SMRs and ATFs, which are fuels with improved performance, in the green taxonomy.

Construction of Shin Hanul reactors 3 and 4, which was suspended under the previous administration, is likely to be helped along by the designation.

Plants currently operating and those that have received a construction or operation permit will be in the taxonomy until 2045.

After 2031, plants will have to use ATF, which the government projects will be commercially available, and detailed plans on the safe storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste will have to be provided.

The Korean taxonomy is not a regulation that requires the approval of the National Assembly. Whether the investors will follow the guideline is entirely decided by the market.

"The inclusion of nuclear activities in the Korean taxonomy will serve as an opportunity to raise the safety and environmental impact assessment of nuclear energy," said Minister Han Wha-jin. "Through the uses of both renewable and nuclear energy, we expect a realization of carbon neutrality by 2050."

The latest updated green taxonomy came two months after the EU parliament voted to include gas and nuclear energy in its taxonomy.

Korea's green taxonomy is considered to be more relaxed than that of EU.

One of the key conditions of the EU's taxonomy is to have the AFT applied in 2025, while a deadline for disposal facilities has been set for 2050.

"The reason why we didn't set the date on the radioactive waste disposal facility is due to the difficult circumstances," said Cho Hyun-soo, Environment Ministry director. "There have been several attempts that have failed."

Since the Yoon administration started in May, the government has been increasing its restoration of the nuclear energy industry and pushing overseas sales.

This is a complete reversal from the previous administration, whose policy was focusing on phasing out nuclear energy.

In addition to finalizing the contract on the sale of equipment and material for and the construction of the main and auxiliary buildings on the turbine islands at the Russia-backed El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt in August, the Korean government has been pitching for nuclear reactor projects in the Czech Republic, which has set an application deadline of November, and another nuclear reactor project in Poland.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]