South Korea Urges International Community to Monitor Fukushima Contaminated Water

O Tae-seok, 1st Vice Minister of Science and ICT, Delivers Government Representative Speech at IAEA General Conference

On the 27th (local time), Oh Tae-seok, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, delivered a keynote speech at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The South Korean government has called for international monitoring and compliance with standards regarding Japan's disposal of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

On the 27th at around 12:55 PM (local time), Oh Tae-seok, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, delivered a keynote speech as the chief representative of the Korean government at the 66th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held in Vienna, Austria, announcing this position.

Vice Minister Oh stated, "As the closest neighboring country sharing the ocean with Japan, Korea has conveyed the concerns of our citizens to the Japanese side and has continuously demanded responsible responses." He emphasized, "Japan must dispose of the contaminated water in a safe manner from a scientific and objective perspective, in accordance with international law and international standards." He also requested that the IAEA play an active role throughout the entire process of contaminated water disposal from an independent and objective standpoint, and expressed the Korean government's willingness to actively participate in the IAEA's verification activities.

Earlier that day, around 12 PM, Vice Minister Oh met with Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, and requested that Korea's continued participation in the IAEA's planned verification activities related to the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water is important and asked for active support. In response, the IAEA Director General agreed and stated that an inclusive process involving all parties would be established, considering participation from global experts as well as Korea. The Ministry of Science and ICT reported that he also expressed a commitment to strive for the establishment of the highest scientific and rigorous verification standards.

In his keynote speech, Vice Minister Oh also introduced the new government’s energy policy to expand the share of nuclear power within the energy mix to achieve carbon neutrality, and expressed the government’s intention to actively enter overseas nuclear power projects while sharing Korea’s safe nuclear power plant design, construction, operation technologies, and commercialization experiences with the international community.

He introduced Korea’s technological capabilities in small modular reactors (hereinafter ‘SMR’), which are being rapidly developed worldwide as a response to energy security and climate crisis, and proposed cooperation. Korea has experience developing the SMART reactor and is proactively advancing regulatory systems and related technology development to verify SMR safety, indicating that Korea is a leading country in SMR development and proposing cooperation with member countries that have demand for SMR development.

* SMART (System-Integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor): A small modular reactor developed through cooperation between domestic research institutes such as the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and industry since 1997, which received standard design approval in 2012.

Additionally, he urged North Korea to denuclearize and expressed concern over the safety issues of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is in a precarious situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fully supporting the IAEA’s proposal to designate the area around the Zaporizhzhia plant as a protected zone.

At this conference, Vice Minister Oh strengthened Korea’s position in the international community through meetings with chief representatives of major partner countries including the United Kingdom, Poland, the United States, France, and the European Union (EU), while promoting Korea’s excellent nuclear power and atomic energy technologies. Korea opened a Korean pavilion at the IAEA technology exhibition under the theme "Current Status and Future of Korean SMR," showcasing Korea’s first SMR, SMART, and the innovative SMR (i-SMR) which began research aiming to enter the SMR market by 2030. For the first time this year, one-on-one customized consulting was operated, inviting countries interested in SMR adoption to the exhibition hall to discuss Korean SMR introductions and cooperation plans, supporting nuclear power export activities.