Liberal Concessions
The revised Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the United States of America concerning Civil Use of Atomic Energy was concluded on April 22, after 53 months of negotiations, to take the place of the current one put into effect in 1973.
During the course of the negotiations, the Korean government had the three goals of spent nuclear fuel management, stable nuclear fuel supply, and an increase in nuclear power plants. Uranium enrichment and the reuse of spent nuclear fuel were two of the most hot-button issues up until the final moment.
The constraints upon uranium enrichment and pyroprocessing are to remain as they are. Nevertheless, the low enrichment of uranium from the U.S. below the level of 20 percent is going to be allowed. “4 percent to 5 percent-enriched uranium is used in power plants, and the percentage is 15 percent to 18 percent for research reactors,” the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained, adding, “This means below 20 percent covers all types of uranium for peaceful use.”
Still, enrichment can be carried out only by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute on the condition that it is allowed by a high-ranking committee. Some experts point out that this means even limited low enrichment can be done under an agreement with the United States. According to the new agreement, Korea cannot procure enriched uranium for various purposes like power generation or research on its own. Although the U.S. officially promised to cooperate for the stable supply of nuclear fuel, the import of enriched uranium, which has cost over 1 trillion won (US$924 million) a year, is expected to continue.
pyroprocessing is predicted to be very limited as well, because Korea is allowed to perform nothing but electrolytic reduction, which is an earlier step for turning spent nuclear fuel into metal, with sensitive nuclear materials such as uranium and plutonium not separated. The next steps of electrolytic refining and electrowinning are prohibited according to the agreement.
Although both countries are conducting pyroprocessing research together, the importance of independent technological development cannot be underestimated, since reprocessing and recycling techniques contribute greatly to a reduction in the space required for spent nuclear fuel storage. At present, Korea is storing the fuel at four nuclear power plant sites, and the capacity is soon to be reached.
Meanwhile, some people are positive about the outcome, because the new agreement stipulates specific cooperation measures for various possible types of spent nuclear fuel management, examples of which include temporary storage, pyroprocessing, permanent disposal, and commissioned reprocessing abroad. Also, Korea can send materials, equipment, and components imported from the U.S. and shipped out after processing even without the consent of the U.S. if the destination is in a nuclear agreement with Korea. Long-term consent has been made as well with regard to less restrictions on the import and export of nuclear materials, equipment, and components from the U.S.