Once a manufacturing powerhouse in Europe based on technology, Germany has recently fallen to become the 'patient man of Europe' as it cannot bear the high energy expenses. The United States, aiming for supremacy in artificial intelligence (AI), has declared an energy emergency and is fully committed to securing energy. With the advancement of high-tech, energy has become a determining factor for national fortunes. This looks into the current and future energy policies of South Korea through the examples of Germany and the United States. [Editor's note]
Starting from five years later, the saturation point of temporary storage facilities for radioactive waste at major domestic nuclear power plants will be reached consecutively. The National Assembly recently enacted the 'Special Act on the Management of High-Level Radioactive Waste,' which serves as the legal basis for creating permanent storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel. However, it will take 20 years to complete, and there are many challenges, including site selection, that need to be resolved.
In South Korea, where a total of 25 nuclear power plants are in operation, more than 700 tons (t) of spent nuclear fuel are generated each year. South Korea does not have the authority to independently reprocess spent nuclear fuel and is storing it in the internal storage pools of the nuclear power plants.
According to the energy sector on the 20th, domestic nuclear power plants will sequentially face saturation of spent nuclear fuel storage facilities starting from the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant in Yeonggwang, Jeollanam-do, by 2030. Currently, domestic nuclear power plants lack permanent disposal facilities for spent nuclear fuel and are temporarily operating wet storage pools. The storage methods for spent nuclear fuel are divided into wet storage, which cools using water, and dry storage, which cools using air. Dry storage facilities have the advantage of lower operating expenses compared to wet storage and are easier to expand in capacity or manage in the long term.
Spent nuclear fuel can be moved to dry storage after being stored in a wet storage facility (pool) for five years; however, in South Korea, all nuclear power plants, except for the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, operate only wet storage facilities. There is concern that the construction of dry storage facilities will lead to opposition from the surrounding regions due to fears of permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel.
The expiration date of the spent nuclear fuel storage pools, which are primarily operated wet in domestic nuclear power plants, is expected to be reached soon. As of the third quarter of last year, the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant's storage rate exceeded 82.3%. The Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, with a storage rate of 75.3%, is expected to reach its saturation point in 2031, and the Gori Nuclear Power Plant, which has a storage rate of 90.8%, is anticipated to end the operation of its wet storage pools by 2032. The expected saturation points for the Wolseong and Saewool Nuclear Power Plants are 2042 and 2066, respectively.
Countries with advanced nuclear power capabilities have already completed permanent disposal facilities for radioactive waste or constructed dry storage facilities. Finland has completed the world's first high-level radioactive waste disposal facility, 'Onkalo,' and is starting operations this year. Sweden is also working on constructing permanent disposal facilities for spent nuclear fuel, aiming for completion by 2035. Germany and Switzerland are operating dry storage pools.
On the 27th of last month, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the Special Act on the Management of High-Level Radioactive Waste. It has taken about 40 years since discussions began in 1986 to secure sites for radioactive waste disposal in Gyeongbuk, Yeongdeok, and Uljin to finally establish a legal basis for creating a permanent disposal facility.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy disclosed a roadmap for the 'Research and Development (R&D) of High-Level Radioactive Waste' in 2022, projecting the process and timing for completing the permanent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel. According to the roadmap, the government plans to build an intermediate waste storage facility by 2050 to remove spent nuclear fuel currently stored at nuclear plants and to complete the permanent disposal facility by 2060.
Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power plans to expand dry storage facilities at each nuclear power plant for the next 20 years until the completion of the intermediate storage facility based on the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant.
This assumes that all procedures will be carried out as quickly as possible, but persuading residents who oppose the establishment of nuclear-related facilities to select sites is likely to be a significant challenge. In Finland, a plan to build permanent disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste was established in 1983, but it wasn't until 2001, 18 years later, that a site was selected. It is also known that in Sweden, securing a site took ten years from the establishment of the construction plan.
Prof. Jeong Beom-jin from Kyunghee University stated, "The local residents' rejection of nuclear-related facilities has decreased compared to the past. It is essential to actively communicate and persuade that providing economic benefits to the regions offering the sites and preventing local extinction is possible."
Concerns have also been raised that the provisions in the special law may make it difficult to extend the lifespan of some nuclear power plants (continued operation). This law limited the storage capacity of spent nuclear fuel facilities within the nuclear power plant site to the 'predicted amount generated during the design life of the nuclear power plant.' Consequently, from next year, the Wolseong Units 2, 3, and 4, which are nearing the end of their design life every two years, are likely to face challenges in continuing operations due to the inability to secure additional storage space.
An official in the nuclear power industry noted, "It seems that the special law's tying of storage capacity to the predicted amounts from the initially approved design life reflects the opposition party's stance against expanding the role of nuclear power plants, and if legal amendments are not made promptly, the full operation of nuclear power plants will face significant obstacles starting next year."
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