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Reactor No. 2 (pictured left) of the Kori nuclear power plant in Busan’s Gijang County is one of the reactors KEPCO is pushing to extend the use of. (Yonhap News)

The incoming administration has selected the abandonment of post-nuclear power policies as one of its top government tasks.

In an about-face from the Moon Jae-in administration’s approach of halting the construction of new nuclear power plants and barring extensions of the use of outdated ones, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration plans to make the increased use of nuclear power one of its chief policy focuses, including resumed construction on third and fourth reactors at the Shin Hanul nuclear power plant and extensions of the use of old reactors.

While on the campaign trail Yoon consistently emphasized plans to do away with policies that turned away from nuclear power.

Even so, the issue raised eyebrows when it was near the top of a list of 110 agenda items for his administration as announced by his presidential transition committee Tuesday. Reversing post-nuclear policies was listed third, right after recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and responding to the threat of infectious diseases.

Additionally, the transition committee included the task not in the “economy” category with other tasks related to energy and industry, but in the category of “politics/administration,” where the stated aim is to achieve an “upstanding country with a return to common sense.” For that reason, some observers are reading a deeper significance into the abandonment of post-nuclear policies than a mere shift in energy policy.

Stating the aim of “actively using nuclear power as a means of achieving energy security and carbon neutrality,” the transition committee listed targets including a swift resumption of construction on the third and fourth Shin Hanul reactors; continued operation of nuclear power plants past their license period, provided they are sufficiently safe; and increasing the proportion of energy from nuclear power by 2030.

According to this approach, the administration plans to increase the use of nuclear power to contribute to achieving South Korea’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, while also using nuclear power as a new growth driver.

With the policies drawing an outcry from environmental and anti-nuclear groups when they were listed as pledges during Yoon’s presidential campaign, they are also likely to be a source of major controversy as the administration goes about implementing them.

“For the incoming administration not to cause controversy with measures such as building new nuclear power plants and extending the use of old ones, those policies would have to be pursued only after a high level of safety has been ensured,” said Han Byeong-seop, director of the Institute for Nuclear Safety.

“If they focus solely on expanding the use of nuclear power without basing that in the trust of the public, they will merely contribute to negative public attitudes toward nuclear power,” he warned.

Also included among the specific tasks the Yoon administration plans to tackle were focused R&D efforts to secure future nuclear power technology (including small modular reactors) and the active courting of overseas nuclear power orders, with an export target of 10 reactors by 2030.

To achieve this, the administration plans to institute a “nuclear power export strategy pursuit council” shortly after taking office, with government agencies, nuclear power industry representatives, and financial institutions all taking part.

Other response measures to climate change — which has been named as the single biggest issue facing the world — were spread across government tasks related to the “economy” and “future,” rather than representing a separate task in their own right.

Under its task of “transitioning to a green economy by establishing scientific plans for implementing carbon neutrality,” the transition committee said it planned to “comply with the 2030 national greenhouse gas reduction target, while developing practical reduction measures for individual sectors to be reflected in a legally established national plan.”

It also gave March 2023 as a target date for reflecting those measures in its national plan. This means that even as it maintains the same target of reducing carbon emissions by 40% from 2018 levels, it will need to spend close to a year adjusting the targets for individual sectors.

By Kim Jeong-su, senior staff writer

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