Jerng Dong-wook

Inserted 2 years ago

“Carbon neutrality is a trend that cannot be avoided to limit global warming and it has become the top-tier energy policy around the world now. We have to review the nuclear phase-out policy from the perspective of carbon neutrality, and in the case of Korea, nuclear energy is indispensable as a way to achieve net zero. It is meaningless to attack the current government for advocating the nuclear phase-out policy. Instead, we should focus on how to restructure Korea's energy mix to reduce carbon emissions. Climate change seriously threatens biodiversity - a 1.5-degree Celsius rise in average temperature may put some 30 percent of species at risk of extinction. The scale of danger cannot be compared to nuclear accidents. Over 180 countries do not gather together to discuss the danger of nuclear energy, but they do for climate agreement. I am not saying no to a nuclear phase-out, but the fight against climate change and carbon neutrality is the bigger subject on the agenda of energy policy. If we can reach net zero without nuclear energy, it would be great. However, it is virtually impossible without an astronomical amount of money.”

Koreatimes

Professor at the School of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University