(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Jan. 16)

New nuclear powerhouse

Public opinions are divided over the government's goal to emerge as one of the
world's big-three exporters of atomic power plants by 2030.

People who are positive about the peaceful use of nuclear energy support the Lee
Myung-bak administration's plan to turn Korea into a new export powerhouse of
atomic plants by building 80 nuclear reactors worth $400 billion around the world
over the next 20 years.
Those who oppose increasing reliance on atomic energy, however, are asking
whether such a plan would be environmentally desirable, technologically possible
and even commercially viable.
The skeptics also take issue with the $20-billion deal Seoul snatched last month
to build four reactors in the United Arab Emirates, ranging from possible price
undercutting to some hidden concessions and even to why the government inflated
it to a $40-billion deal by including a yet-to-be-fixed operational portion as
well as President Lee's ``political show."
More fundamentally, opponents won't buy the government's arguments that atomic
plants are ``green technology," citing the potentially calamitous safety risks
and environmental hazards caused by spent fuel buried underground. They also are
worried ??? rightly ??? that the ``nuclear renaissance" unique to this country
could hamper its efforts to move toward safer and cleaner energy, such as wind
and solar power.
Politics aside, most of these are justifiable concerns, but it is also true that
the nuclear power generation ??? cleaner and cheaper than fossil fuels ??? will
continue for the time being, at least until continuous technological progress
will allow the world to completely switch to renewable sources. And as long as
there are countries, including France and Canada, competing to take a larger
slice of the global nuclear power generation market, there is no reason Korea
should remain an environmental purist.
This means the nation ought to focus on technological perfection and economical
efficiency, which will surely help to reduce environmental concerns as well. The
foremost task facing the nation's atomic power industry is to localize some core
technologies, for which it still depends on the U.S. and Japanese suppliers, as
well as to cultivate expert manpower, particularly the safety personnel,
considering Korea's come-from-behind victory in the UAE deal was attributable to
its long records of safe and efficient plant operations at home.
No less important is the restoration of its right to reprocess spent fuels, which
is essential for recycling 95 percent of nuclear waste and completing the full
cycle of the peaceful use of nuclear technology ??? of course with a promise of
perfectly transparent management subject to full-time supervision from the
International Atomic Energy Agency. It is welcoming news that there are some
voices in the United States that would allow Korea's fuel reprocessing on the
precondition that the North Korean nuclear crisis be successfully solved,
providing another reason for Seoul to push harder for an early settlement of the
decades-old issue.
Needless to say, this will require ensuring the operational safety to lower
chances of incidents to near zero, and the serious consideration to set up a
powerful, independent body responsible for this matter, like the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission of the United States.
Only ceaseless efforts toward technological perfection will guarantee
environmental safety and economic success as well as help Korea take the lead in
the risk-free dream technology of nuclear fusion. The genie of nuclear power
generation has long come out of the bottle, and the only thing to put it back in
is its complete replacement with fusion technology and/or renewable sources.
Until then, the best ways to handle atomic energy is to make the best and safest
use of it.
Korea should try its best in both, as this resource-poor country can hardly
afford to focus only on a more ideal but time-consuming sector.
(END)

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