Government Resorting to Nuclear Power While Trying to Drop It

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 20 that Shin-wolsong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 (1000 MW) was put back into operation on July 18 and Shin-Kori Unit 4 (1400 MW) and Wolsong Unit 3 (700 MW) would be put back into operation on July 21 and 23, respectively.

In fact, Shin-wolsong Unit 1's reoperation was scheduled for late August and that of Shin-Kori Unit 4 was scheduled for late this month. The earlier reoperation is because heat waves are already occurring, and the spare electricity is decreasing fast. The spare electricity ratio is expected to go up to 6 percent or so once the three units are put back into operation.

Many in the industry point out that the schedule is self-contradictory. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission is going to approve a series of post-maintenance reoperations in order to avoid unstable power supply. Until recently, however, the commission delayed the operation of new nuclear power plants in step with the government’s nuclear phase-out policy.