Nuclear Safety Committee Imposes 10.45 Billion Won Fine on KHNP for Violating Nuclear Safety Act

The 227th Nuclear Safety Committee meeting is in progress. 2025.12.19 Nuclear Safety Committee

The Nuclear Safety Committee announced on the 19th that it convened its 227th meeting and decided on administrative measures against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute for violations of the Nuclear Safety Act.

For Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the committee imposed the following fines: 600 million won for Hanbit Unit 5, where a valve was replaced without approval for operational changes; 7,212.5 million won for six units where anchors not meeting technical standards were used; and 2,640 million won for Wolsong Unit 2 and Hanbit Unit 6, where radioactive monitoring was not conducted during the discharge of liquid and gaseous waste. The total amount of fines imposed is 10,452.5 million won.

For the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, a fine of 60 million won was imposed for constructing part of the Gijang research reactor facility with a modified design without obtaining approval for changes in construction.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the committee reviewed and approved partial amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Nuclear Safety Act, including revisions to the items for periodic safety assessments conducted during the continued operation of power reactors.

First, in cases of continued operation, it will now be possible to exclude overlapping parts between the "assessment of aging degradation" and the "lifetime assessment of major equipment" in periodic safety assessments.

Additionally, the "radiation emergency planning" section of the periodic safety assessment will be aligned with the "radiation emergency plan" as stipulated by the Act on Measures for the Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Prevention of Radiation Disasters.

It was also mandated that, during the process of collecting public opinions on the draft of the radiation environmental impact assessment, an explanatory document written in plain language for easier understanding of technical content must be provided. The frequency of accident management training, previously set as "within a two-year cycle," was clarified to "at least once a year," among other improvements.

The committee stated, "With these amendments, we expect that clarifying ambiguous and unclear provisions will lead to a more systematic safety assessment process."