Current Status and Prospects of Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning in the Republic of Korea

摘要

This paper reviews the current status of the decommissioning process of Kori unit 1. Because Kori unit 1 is the first commercial nuclear reactor to be decommissioned in the Republic of Korea, the Korean government and the KHNP have prepared to ensure the safety of the project. In particular, the Korean government considered this to be an opportunity to strengthen its nuclear industry's competence and foster domestic specialized companies in the field of decommissioning of nuclear facilities. Thus, the Korean government formulated 'a business strategy to promote the domestic industry in field of nuclear facility decommissioning.' The KHNP has made preparations to decommission Kori unit 1 through measure such as the formulation and implementation of roadmaps for technological developments, formulation of a decommissioning plan and making license-related documents, and etc. This paper estimates the number of nuclear power reactors to be permanently shut down with each coming decade and the expected annual expenses of decommissioning 26 nuclear power reactors in Korea from 2017 to 2094. Although the estimations presented are rough, they show that the size of the decommissioning market will grow gradually and reach the maximum in 2037 when the decommissioning of 13 nuclear reactors would be carried out simultaneously. This paper is expected to be helpful to get insight on the status and prospects of decommissioning of nuclear facilities in the Republic of Korea.