South Korea’s nuclear watchdog on Thursday shelved a decision on whether to extend the life span of a 32-year-old nuclear reactor amid strong opposition from residents and civic groups over its safety.
However, the state-run Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) decided to discuss again the fate of the 678-megawatt heavywater reactor in Wolsong on South Korea’s southeast coast in February or March.
The debate came as the reactor’s technical license expired in November 2012, following 30 years of commercial operations. The reactor has since been turned off for a review of its safety.
The state-run Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) in October had completed an inspection of the reactor and concluded that it can operate for another 10 years.
On Thursday, a group of minor opposition lawmakers and a coalition of environmental groups staged a protest rally outside the commission’s office, demanding an immediate and permanent shutdown of the reactor. They questioned the transparency of the government’s inspection.
“(The government) should shut down the Wolseong reactor, because its life span expired and safety is not guaranteed,” they said in a statement issued at a joint press conference in downtown Seoul. “It is absurd to extend the life span without clearing safety concerns.”
South Korea has 23 nuclear reactors in operation, from which it currently gets about 30 percent of its electricity supply, and is building several more.
In 2007, the government extended by 10 years the life span of the 580-megawatt Gori No. 1 lightwater reactor that began commercial operations in 1977. The Wolseong No. 1 is the first heavywater reactor under review for a possible extension of its life span.
The state power operator, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), said the life span of the Wolseong reactor should be extended, given the long time and huge money needed to build a new plant.
“It is necessary to make use of reactors for a long period considering environmental costs and other burdens, and the country’s chronic energy shortages,” the KHNP said in a statement, adding it hopes for the extension plan to be approved at the next meeting. (Yonhap)
