The insistence for nuclear power phase-out has been continuously brought up since 1956 when the United Kingdom's industrial nuclear power plant was built. Their arguments against the nuclear power plants mainly consist of the fact that there is no technology to perfectly take care of the nuclear waste produced from the nuclear power plant, and its potential negative consequences from its failure cannot be compared to those of other power plants. 

▲ Moon, the President of South Korea

The South Korean president also has the same idea about nuclear power plants. During his speech in the presidential election, he said that he will start the nuclear power phase-out. In detail, he said that by 2030, he will lower the energy reliance on nuclear power from 30 percent to 18 percent and raise LNG power from 20 percent to 37 percent and renewable energy from five percent to 20 percent. After he was elected as the president of South Korea, he stopped Gori 5 and 6's construction for three months and let the citizens decide whether to continue building these nuclear power plants or not. While he got many supports from the citizens, many criticisms from other political parties and citizens were also thrown to him.

▲ Gori, one of the Nuclear Power Plants in South Korea

South Korea has a small land capacity compared to other countries, and this makes it hard for South Korea to switch to renewable energy, leading South Korea to rely on nuclear power. Although South Korea's final aim for energy policy should be eco-friendly and safe, it is too early now to switch to renewable energy or LNG because they are less energy-efficient, and they take up larger land areas compared to nuclear power plants. Therefore, we should follow Europe's energy policy, especially Germany, continuing our research and development for renewable energy, and gradually decrease the energy reliance on nuclear power.

▲ Solar Panels

July 27th, 2019

By Minsu Jung