Joo Han-gyu

Inserted 2 years ago

“There are strong fears over nuclear power, but most of them are superstitions. There is only one nuclear accident that led to death - the Chernobyl accident - and divided by the amount of electricity produced, 0.5 people could be killed out of 1 trillion kilowatt-hour, equivalent to the amount generated for 100 years from a nuclear plant, so it is much safer than other energy sources. The study [about the economic viability of Unit 1 of the Wolsong Nuclear Plant] lowered the rate of operation of the unit and presumed the cost of electricity lower than the production cost to reduce the economic feasibility of the nuclear plant. Yoon [Yoon Seok-youl] clearly understood that Moon's [Moon Jae-in] nuclear phase-out policy defied existing laws and killed off Korea's top-notch technology in nuclear power generation. Korea has stable supply chains in all stages of making nuclear plants, from design, construction to operation and has won contracts in overseas markets, including the UAE. Korea's nuclear power technology is recognized internationally, but the phase-out plan dampened its export prospects. Korea does not have underground energy resources such as oil and coal. Renewable energy is not very efficient in Korea. Wind power is weak and solar power generation is available only during the day and it costs even more to store the amount for night. They cannot compete with nuclear energy in efficiency.”

Koreatimes

Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University