The Democratic Party’s puzzling budget cuts
Published: 22 Nov. 2023, 19:50
The majority Democratic Party (DP) is taking the lead on next year’s budget for research and development (R&D). The opposition party unilaterally passed the government’s outline for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at a relevant standing committee meeting after axing 182 billion won ($141 million) the government had set aside for the nuclear reactor sector.
The funding had been earmarked for the development of a next generation small modular reactor dubbed i-SMR, the enhancement of the reactor industry ecosystem, and the achievement of 100-percent carbon-free energy (CF100). The DP instead increased the R&D budget aimed at dismantling nuclear power plants by 25.6 billion won. This move from the DP, which holds 168 seats in the 300-member legislature, is a self-contradiction.
The i-SMR was hatched under the Moon Jae-in administration, when the DP was the governing party. In April 2021, DP Rep. Lee Won-wook and governing People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim Young-sik — then co-chairs of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee — hosted a seminar on next-generation SMRs. At the forum, Lee stressed the need to restore Korea’s leadership in reactor technology based on its homegrown APR-1400 reactors that were exported to other countries. Work on the project, which was exempted from preliminary feasibility studies, was under way until recently.
Most puzzling is the behavior from Rep. Lee Jae-jung, another DP lawmaker, who chairs the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Start-ups Committee. Though she aggressively pitched Korea’s SMR technology while meeting a delegation from Ukraine, she also cut the budget for SMRs. But none of the DP members in the subcommittee of the standing committee on science and ICT cut the i-SMR budget, even though they’d shaved 1.16 trillion won from funds for international cooperation on R&D.
A next generation SMR project is necessary to meet global carbon neutrality goals and address the threat of climate change. Other renewable energy sources from solar and wind power are unreliable due to weather inconsistencies. Solar power cannot be produced during nights and rainy days, while wind power hinges on natural wind. SMRs are under a global spotlight as an optimal energy source that can be more reliable than other clear energy sources — and safer and cheaper than traditional reactors.
According to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, SMRs could generate a global revenue of as much as 146 trillion won annually until 2040. The project, with a goal of commercialization in 2028, should not be killed by political rivalry. Its fate is now in the special budget committee’s hands.
The legislature must not victimize the country’s promising next generation technology over ideological battles.
The funding had been earmarked for the development of a next generation small modular reactor dubbed i-SMR, the enhancement of the reactor industry ecosystem, and the achievement of 100-percent carbon-free energy (CF100). The DP instead increased the R&D budget aimed at dismantling nuclear power plants by 25.6 billion won. This move from the DP, which holds 168 seats in the 300-member legislature, is a self-contradiction.
The i-SMR was hatched under the Moon Jae-in administration, when the DP was the governing party. In April 2021, DP Rep. Lee Won-wook and governing People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim Young-sik — then co-chairs of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee — hosted a seminar on next-generation SMRs. At the forum, Lee stressed the need to restore Korea’s leadership in reactor technology based on its homegrown APR-1400 reactors that were exported to other countries. Work on the project, which was exempted from preliminary feasibility studies, was under way until recently.
Most puzzling is the behavior from Rep. Lee Jae-jung, another DP lawmaker, who chairs the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Start-ups Committee. Though she aggressively pitched Korea’s SMR technology while meeting a delegation from Ukraine, she also cut the budget for SMRs. But none of the DP members in the subcommittee of the standing committee on science and ICT cut the i-SMR budget, even though they’d shaved 1.16 trillion won from funds for international cooperation on R&D.
A next generation SMR project is necessary to meet global carbon neutrality goals and address the threat of climate change. Other renewable energy sources from solar and wind power are unreliable due to weather inconsistencies. Solar power cannot be produced during nights and rainy days, while wind power hinges on natural wind. SMRs are under a global spotlight as an optimal energy source that can be more reliable than other clear energy sources — and safer and cheaper than traditional reactors.
According to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, SMRs could generate a global revenue of as much as 146 trillion won annually until 2040. The project, with a goal of commercialization in 2028, should not be killed by political rivalry. Its fate is now in the special budget committee’s hands.
The legislature must not victimize the country’s promising next generation technology over ideological battles.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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