[Opinion] Carbon Neutrality and Nuclear Energy Policy

Last May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a highly significant report. The 220-page document titled “Global Energy Sector Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality by 2050” (commonly known as the 2050 Carbon Neutrality Report) states that to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, it is necessary to fundamentally change the methods of energy production, utilization, and transportation.

This report consolidates the world’s first comprehensive study aimed at achieving stable and affordable energy supply, sustainable growth, and climate change response simultaneously to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The report is attracting global attention because it will be used as reference material at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Scotland this November.

Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions bore fruit with the 2015 Paris Agreement, but implementation has been insufficient. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic, a consensus on the risks of climate change has formed, and with President Biden’s inauguration, momentum has increased. Not only the United States but also major countries such as the EU have declared carbon neutrality by 2050, and with South Korea joining this effort, practical measures for carbon neutrality are expected to become more concrete.

The newly released 2050 Carbon Neutrality Report indicates that all sectors?including fossil fuels, electricity, industry, transportation, and housing?must strive painfully hard to reduce carbon emissions. It predicts that coal power generation and oil and gas field development must be halted, and more than $5 trillion should be invested annually in clean energy development. The IEA has outlined a roadmap with milestones to be achieved every five years for carbon neutrality. These include banning the sale of fossil fuel boilers by 2025, stopping the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2035, and closing all coal-fired power plants by 2040.

Particularly noteworthy is the emphasis on expanding large-scale clean energy by 2030 as a priority. The total power generation in 2050 is expected to be 2.5 times the current level, with 90% of electricity generated from renewable energy and the remaining 10% from nuclear power. To achieve this, the report diagnoses that about 20 nuclear power plants (17GW to 24GW) need to be constructed annually. The carbon neutrality report’s core message is to stop using fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy, while also emphasizing that nuclear power, as a clean energy source, is indispensable.

At the end of May, the South Korea-U.S. summit joint statement announced that “the two countries will strengthen cooperation in overseas nuclear power markets, including joint participation in nuclear power projects.” If this leads to South Korea participating in the global supply chain with the U.S., it will greatly contribute to enhancing contract competitiveness and strengthening the nuclear power ecosystem of both countries. However, no such news has been heard, and only plans to increase LNG power generation as a substitute for nuclear power have been reported. This directly contradicts the carbon neutrality declaration.

The U.S. commitment to nuclear power for carbon neutrality was also clearly demonstrated in the joint statement with France on May 28. The two countries agreed to collaborate on innovative nuclear energy technologies, small modular reactors, micro and other advanced reactors, hydrogen production for transportation and decarbonization. This reflects the global trend that nuclear power is essential to achieving carbon neutrality. The phase-out nuclear policy must be reconsidered to realize carbon neutrality.

Han Mu-kyung, Member of the National Assembly, People Power Party