Democratic Party Agrees to Ruling Party's Special Law Proposal
Radioactive Waste Saturation to Begin in 2030
Maritime Wind Power Project Simplification Bill Also Discussed
A green light has been given for the passage of the 'High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (Disposal Site) Special Act,' which was at risk of being discarded in the 21st National Assembly. As concerns grow over the suspension of nuclear power plant operations due to the saturation of temporary storage facilities starting in 2030, the ruling and opposition parties are accelerating their final agreement.
The National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee is negotiating for the ruling and opposition parties to pass the High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site Special Act and the Offshore Wind Power Special Act at the plenary session on the 28th. The discussion gained momentum as Kim Seong-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who had opposed the bill until the last moment, agreed to accept the government and ruling party's proposal.
The High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site Special Act is a law that specifically regulates the management of high-level radioactive waste, which in Korea generally refers to spent nuclear fuel with a heat generation rate of 2 kW/m³ or more and a radioactivity concentration of 4,000 becquerels per gram or higher. Currently, there are no high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities in Korea; spent fuel is stored in pools within nuclear power plants or, when pool capacity is exceeded, stored and managed in other storage facilities.
The problem is that from 2030, the space to store spent nuclear fuel may reach saturation. This is why it is urgent to enact the High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site Special Act to legally secure new storage space. If the construction of the disposal site is delayed, a power crisis caused by the suspension of nuclear power plant operations could become inevitable.
A Democratic Party official said, "There has long been a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties on the construction of the high-level radioactive waste disposal site. However, there has been disagreement over whether to base the design on the waste volume generated up to the original design life or to design based on the volume considering life extension for additional use."
Recently, the People Power Party positively accepted the Democratic Party's proposal to calculate the waste volume based on the original design life, increasing the possibility of agreement. In this process, the Offshore Wind Power Simplification Act requested by the Democratic Party was also agreed to be discussed together. However, final agreement in the standing committee is required before the last plenary session, so it is too early to be fully assured. A member of the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee said, "The Democratic Party will also feel considerable pressure not to let the related bill fail in the 21st National Assembly," and predicted that the Disposal Site Special Act would pass the plenary session.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
