Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Korean National Report

The Korean government has maintained a consistent national policy for stable energy supply by fostering nuclear power industries under the circumstances that energy resources are scare in the country. Korea has one of the most dynamic nuclear power programs in the world. For a couple of decades, Korea has deployed very dynamic nuclear power program. The first nuclear power plant (NPP), Kori #1, started its commercial operation in April 1978. As of September 2002, there are 17 units of nuclear power plants in operation and 3 units under construction_. Four of the 17 operating units are Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) at the Wolsong site. All other units distributed in three sites (Kori, Yonggwang, and Ulchin) are Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). Nuclear power generation is as high as 40% of total domestic electricity generation. Only one research reactor is in operation: The HANARO reactor at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) located in Daejeon. Operations commenced its operation in 1995 and it has thermal power of 30 MW. The two research reactors, KRR-1 & 2, situated in the former KAERI site in Seoul had been shut down and unloaded of fuel. All the fuel rods were returned to the USA according to the bilateral agreement between the governments of Korea and the United States. Now the reactor buildings and auxiliary facilities are under decommissioning. The KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co. (KNFC) in Daejeon fabricates fuel for all of the PWR and PHWR power plants. In the course of conversion and fabrication, contaminated wastes may be generated. The number of facilities utilizing radioactive materials in medicine, research work and industry has increased steadily to reach about 2000. These facilities are wide spread over the country and generate various types of radioactive waste (hereinafter referred to as RI wastes). Since the beginning of the 1980’s, the Korean government has strived to devise measures for radioactive waste disposal. However, no satisfactory results has been achieved yet. Consequently, spent fuels are stored in the spent fuel storage pools (SFSP) at reactor and on-site dry storages (for spent PHWR fuels only). The radioactive wastes are stored on reactor sites, while the RI wastes at the KAERI site. At the 249th meeting held in September, 1998, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) decided on the “National Radioactive Waste Management Policy” aiming to construct and operate a low and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) disposal facility no later than 2008 and a centralized spent fuel interim-storage facility by 2016. Particularly, the AEC policy emphasizes the enhancement of public relations in the course of siting these facilities to improve perceptions on radioactive wastes.