150 Billion Won
The Korean government is working on techniques and measures required for a safe decommissioning of the Gori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, which will be the first atomic power station in Korea to be permanently shut down. The decommissioning process is scheduled to be completed by 2030.
The government announced on June 21 that the development of the 17 decommissioning techniques that have yet to be finished would be completed by 2021, led by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, to the tune of 150 billion won (US$136 million). The 17 techniques are divided into two for decommissioning preparations, three for decontamination, five for dismantling, four for waste treatment, and three for environmental restoration.
The government has developed 38 key techniques since 2012, based on its plan for the development of technology for nuclear plant decommissioning. The national council of the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and the like are going to come up with a road map for the development of commercial techniques to that end in the second half of this year.
Gori Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, which is located in Kijang County, Busan City, is slated to be put out of operation in 2030 through the stages of decommissioning preparation, extraction and cooling of the spent nuclear fuel, decontamination and dismantling, and site restoration. The stages are expected to take up to six years or more to complete.