hankyoreh

in Gyeongju

After a court ordered the cancellation of the extension of the operational lifespan of a reactor at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Feb. 7, questions are being raised about whether the reactor will keep running in the future. The group of plaintiffs promised to shut down the reactor‘s operations at once by asking the court to invalidate the permit for continuing operations at the Wolsong-1 reactor.

The court’s decision does not mean that operations at the Wolseong-1 reactor will be immediately suspended. The group of plaintiffs has not submitted a petition to “halt execution,” which would require operations to end at once, and the final outcome depends upon the Supreme Court, which has ultimate authority in this case.

Another notable aspect of the court’s ruling is the fact that it “cancels” the decision of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) to extend the reactor’s lifespan. In other words, the ruling means that if Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the Wolseong plant operator, follows procedure and resubmits the documents to request an extension of the reactor‘s lifespan and if the NSSC addresses the issues raised by the court in a lawful review of this request, it could once again decide to approve the lifespan extension.

Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 1

The NSSC announced its plan to appeal the ruling. This means that the NSSC will continue its fight in the courts while holding to its position that there was nothing wrong with its decision to approve the operational change. A KHNP spokesperson expressed a similar view: “As the operator of the nuclear reactor, we are planning to take the necessary measures according to the policy of the NSSC, which is our regulatory body.”

The Wolseong-1 reactor was granted an extension after reaching the end of its design life in 2012. That extension period is set to end in on Nov. 22, 2022. With a decision made to dismantle the Kori-1 reactor after one extension, the Wolseong-1 reactor appears likely to enter decommissioning procedures in 2022 regardless of the court’s decision. This means the five-year timetable is poised to have an impact on future lawsuit.

“With so little time left, it may be possible to reduce the benefits by continuing to go to court to have the operational modification permits [lifespan extensions] confirmed invalid,” said Kim Young-hee, an attorney for the plaintiffs’ side in the national litigation case.

“We’re planning to submit a request shortly for suspension of [the validity of permits for continued operations],” Kim added.

“If we win the suspension case before the judgment on merits, we can have operation of the Wolseong-1 reactor suspended right away.”

A KHNP source explained, “At 697 MW, the capacity of the Wolseong-1 reactor is about 3% the total for nuclear power generation facilities and around 0.7% of total electric power facility capacity.”

“We don’t expect problems with power supply if the Wolseong-1 reactor can’t be operated,” the source said.

By Nam Jong-young and Cho Kye-wan, staff reporters

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