Vice Minister of Industry Visits Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility: "Safety is the Foundation of Nuclear Power Policy"

Park Il-jun "The Basic Premise of Nuclear Power is Safety... There Must Be No Margin for Error"

Park Il-jun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (second from the right), visited the Wolsong Nuclear Power Headquarters located in Yangnam-myeon, Gyeongju, on the 1st of this month to inspect the operation status of nuclear power plants during the summer season.
[Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Junhyung] Park Iljun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, visited a radioactive waste disposal facility to inspect its management status.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Vice Minister Park visited the intermediate- and low-level radioactive waste disposal facility located in Gyeongju on the morning of the 8th. Vice Minister Park stated, "The fundamental premise of nuclear policy is 'safety,'" and added, "Please ensure that there are no gaps whatsoever in safety issues during the operation and construction of the facilities going forward."

On the day, Vice Minister Park inspected the management status of the first-phase radioactive waste cave disposal facility, which was completed in 2014. The cave disposal facility has the capacity to dispose of 100,000 drums of intermediate-level or lower radioactive waste.

Vice Minister Park also visited the site preparing for the construction of the second-phase surface disposal facility. The second-phase surface disposal facility has the capacity to dispose of 125,000 drums of low-level or lower radioactive waste and received construction permits from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission last month.

Additionally, Vice Minister Park received a report on the operation status of the disposal site from the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency. He then inspected the preparation status for the management of high-level radioactive waste.

Vice Minister Park said, "In accordance with the basic plan for high-level radioactive waste management, we are promoting the enactment of a special law and the formation of a dedicated organization," and added, "Through the 'High-Level Radioactive Waste Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap' announced last month and other measures, we will do our best to ensure the safe management of high-level radioactive waste."