On the 23rd (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump signed four executive orders, including the revitalization of the nuclear industry, which the South Korean nuclear industry has regarded as most groundbreaking for its stipulation to decide on new nuclear power plant permits within 18 months. South Korea currently mandates a decision on construction permits within 24 months of a new nuclear power application; however, it mostly takes longer than that. The most recent permitted Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 took 8 years and 8 months from the application to obtain construction permits.
According to major foreign media, including the Associated Press, President Trump said, "Now is the time for nuclear power," as he signed an executive order outlining plans to quadruple nuclear energy capacity over the next 25 years. The goal is to increase the current nuclear generation capacity of about 100 gigawatts (GW) to 400 GW by 2050. One GW can supply power to approximately 1 million households.
To this end, Trump ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to process permits for new nuclear plants within 18 months. This measure aims to prevent the precedent of taking over 10 years to receive approval for nuclear plant construction in the U.S. and to expedite the building of nuclear power plants.
The White House explained the 'NRC Reform Executive Order' on its website, stating that "from 1954 to 1978, the U.S. approved the construction of 133 commercial nuclear reactors, but since 1978, the NRC has only approved a few, and of these, only two have gone into commercial operation," adding that "despite expectations that technological advancements would make nuclear power plants safer and cheaper and that power supplies would be abundant, the NRC has not granted permits for new nuclear power plants."
It added, "Rather than encouraging safe and abundant nuclear power, the NRC has not taken into account expenses associated with risk avoidance. Incidents that occurred in Europe, such as large-scale blackouts in Spain and Portugal, show that we need to focus on nuclear power rather than intermittent energy production."
The nuclear industry argues that South Korea must expedite the approval process for new nuclear plants. According to the Nuclear Safety Act, construction permits for new nuclear plants must be approved within 24 months of application. However, this has rarely been adhered to. Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, applied for construction permits in 2016, but the application was canceled due to the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy and was later reviewed again under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, with permits finally granted in September of last year.
Jung Dong-wook, a professor at Chung-Ang University's Department of Energy Systems Engineering, stated, "As the review periods for construction permits and operational approvals for nuclear power plants lengthen, construction expenses increase. Permits for standard nuclear power plants and those built near existing plants should be expedited, but delays often occur due to overlapping reviews every time a person in charge changes."
Cho Hong-jong, a professor of economics at Dankook University, also noted, "Because safety is important for nuclear power plants, thorough reviews must be conducted before granting construction permits. However, it is common now to repeatively review the same content two or three times. If the schedule for new nuclear construction permits is shortened, it could reduce the overall construction schedule and save expenses."