Publisher's Note
The European Commission finalized the EU taxonomy on Feb. 2 in order to classify investment in nuclear power generation and natural gas-based power generation as an eco-friendly and sustainable way of investment.
Earlier, the European Commission sent the draft of the taxonomy to the 27 member states of the European Union on Dec. 31. One day before the commission’s action, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea announced the country’s taxonomy, in which LNG and LNG-based hydrogen are classified as green energy sources whereas nuclear power is not, despite the fact that the former entails much more carbon emissions.
This is self-contradiction on the part of the Moon Jae-in administration, which has objected to nuclear and coal-based power generation and simultaneously failed to meet the power demand with renewable energy like solar and wind power generation.
The administration’s objection to nuclear power, which is rooted in its political ideology, has been an ignorant and wrong insistence from the beginning. For the past five years, it has resulted in huge economic losses, causing the country’s nuclear power industry to go backwards and a lot of people to leave the industry.
Both China and Russia already classified nuclear power as a green energy source. Likewise, nuclear power is a renewable and clean energy source according to the carbon neutrality roadmap of the United States, which is planning to invest US$3.2 billion in small modular reactor R&D for seven years to come. Japan is extending the operation of four old nuclear power plants while building new reactors, and China is aiming to build floating nuclear power platforms by 2035 and at least 20 nuclear power plants by 2025. In short, only South Korea is sticking to a nuclear power phase-out.
Nuclear power is not only a clean energy source, but also the very key to carbon neutrality and a foundation of national security. Industry 4.0 will entail an explosive increase in power demand and the solar and wind power, which are limited in terms of time and weather conditions, cannot meet the demand. Nuclear power is the only means suitable for supplying a large amount of electricity with stability and consistency. Besides, South Korea is such a region whose condition and environment to develop solar and wind power generation are very poor and constrictive.
Experts pointed out that an additional investment of more than 500 trillion won would be required to reach zero carbon emissions in the power generation sector in 2050 with the nuclear power phase-out policy maintained, and the government just ignored it.
With the so-called K-taxonomy as it is, financing for nuclear power technology R&D, including small modular reactor development, cannot but be hindered. The nuclear power industry will further shrink, and carbon neutrality will never be achieved. The government’s efforts to export nuclear power plants will be doubted and fail.It is the time to fill up and restore the blank and lost time of Moon administration’s five years.