nuclear-news

Nuclear power problems in South Korea

South Korea’s Nuclear Blues  The Diplomat, By  Sebastian Sarmiento-Saher  June 19, 2013 “…..Although South Korea’s burgeoning nuclear energy industry looks set to become a world leader, Seoul will first have to address domestic corruption in the atomic sector and international questions regarding its right to reprocess spent fuel at home.

The lack of oversight in South Korea’s nuclear power sector and the resulting corruption are a pressing matter in the wake of a scandal late last month in which a whistle-blower revealed that two nuclear reactors were using cables that had fake safety certificates.  ROK authorities immediately shut down the reactors in question and delayed the activation of a third. The incident invoked memories of a similar controversy last November in which two reactors were suspended for using parts with falsified safety certificates.

Engineers and suppliers in connection with the 2012 scandal have been arrested, while South KoreanPresident Park Geun-hye has pledged a thorough investigation of the recent breach – including a review of all 23 reactors and a probe of the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Such a comprehensive review will be a formidable undertaking given the 50 year history of an industry lacking accountability in which agencies in charge of safety oversight were also responsible for nuclear power promotion until 2011. Even after those roles were formally separated, pervasive bribery and a revolving door of stakeholders have undermined efforts to root out corruption……

Another formidable obstacle to South Korea’s nuclear power sector is acquiring the right to handle the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle. Nuclear reactors produce electricity through the fission of nuclei in either uranium or plutonium atoms – a process that releases a lot of energy. The perplexing issue however is that these fissile materials also form the core of a nuclear warhead.

South Korea is currently not allowed to indigenously produce fissile material under the provisions of a1972 agreement with the United States. However, given ROK’s desire to compete in international sales of nuclear reactors and the country’s limited space for the storage of spent fuel (nuclear waste), Seoul has been keen to gain the ability to re-use fissile materials  in order to offer full fuel cycle expertise to potential customers and to shrink the saturation of spent fuel going into storage sites.

The United States has resisted this due to non-proliferation concerns and worries about tensions with North Korea and Iran. …….

Although both parties to the 123 Agreement have agreed to extend the deal by two years—thereby buying both sides time to negotiate— President Park’s government may ultimately need to forgo sensitive fuel cycling for the time being. This is not just to keep tensions low on the Korean Peninsula, but also looking to future negotiations with North Korea which may use its southern neighbor’s reprocessing as an excuse to deflect demands for Pyongyang to cease its illicit nuclear activities. If a nuclear-armed North Korea is “unacceptable,” then Seoul may have to find other ways to deal with its export and storage issues, such as by tackling corruption and sending spent fuel abroad – which will be necessary anyway…. http://thediplomat.com/pacific-money/2013/06/19/south-koreas-nuclear-blues/

June 19, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, South Korea