[Column] SNS Post by Hanwoolwon President Amid Controversy Over Nuclear Plant Tritium Leak

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "Please refer to the principled content disclosed on social networking services (SNS)."

Jung Jae-hoon, President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), remained reserved after the controversy over tritium leakage at the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant intensified. The day before, President Jung stated on SNS, "The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission also confirmed that tritium at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant has not leaked," entering the political controversy. Although he is the head of a public enterprise who cannot ignore political sensitivities, sending such a text message to reporters appears to express his firm belief in the safety of nuclear power plants.

Within the energy industry, there is a reaction along the lines of, "How frustrated must he have been to leave such a message regarding an issue that sparked controversy in the political sphere?" As the political circles overturned even the contents confirmed by the NSSC and claimed, "We need to verify whether the nuclear mafia was involved in concealing the facts," the head of the public enterprise took the lead.

Coincidentally, Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 was shut down early due to manipulated economic feasibility and underwent an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. During that process, a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official deleted data, and KHNP was also investigated by prosecutors. The safer the nuclear power plant, the weaker the justification for the nuclear phase-out policy. This policy was a campaign pledge of President Moon Jae-in and is still ongoing. Because of this, there is suspicion that political circles are conducting political maneuvers exaggerating the risks by overturning experts' statements that "tritium leakage is not factual" to hide contradictions in the nuclear phase-out policy.

The fact is simple. KHNP and NSSC confirmed that it is not true that tritium emissions exceed the management standard of 40,000 becquerels per liter, as stipulated in the NSSC notice, in the "surrounding area" of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant.

President Jung’s SNS message ultimately came from these facts. The message "Check SNS" reflects confidence in scientific evidence. If the ruling party overturns even the verification by the head of KHNP, the institution implementing the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear phase-out policy, it will only receive criticism for politicizing national affairs according to political tastes.