Construction Set To Resume As South Korea Commission Votes In Favour Of Nuclear

20 Oct (NucNet): South Korea is expected to resume the stalled construction of two nuclear reactors after a state commission recommended doing so despite president Moon Jae-in’s campaign promise to scrap the projects. The commission, composed of 471 citizens, said 59.5% of its members supported resuming building the Shin Kori-5 and Shin Kori-6 reactors, near the southeastern city of Ulsan and under construction since last year. However, 53.2% of the members were in favour of the government policy to reduce nuclear power generation. The commission was established to look into plans announced by president Moon to suspend construction of the two reactors for three months as part of a government policy to phase out nuclear power in South Korea, whose 24 commercial reactor units are responsible for about 30% of electricity supply. Following Mr Moon’s phaseout announcement, a board meeting of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP), which operates the country’s nuclear plants, endorsed the government’s plan to suspend construction of Shin-Kori-5 and -6, although in comments reported in the media company officials said they would fight the shutdown plans. Reports said KHNP has already spent about $1.4bn (€1.2bn) on construction of the two pressurised water reactors and there might be legal and compensation issues if construction was completely halted. Other media reports said “nearly 30% of construction of the two reactors that was estimated to cost $7.5bn has been completed so far”. South Korean media reported on 20 October 2017 that construction is expected to resume next week because the government is likely to endorse the recommendation in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.