[Gori Nuclear Powerplant]
South Korea's oldest 580-megawatt nuclear reactor will be shut down permanently this month, ending its extended 40-year operation that has been the target of frequent protests by Greenpeace activists at home and abroad.
The reactor in the country's largest Gori nuclear power complex near the southeastern port city of Busan started commercial production on April 29, 1978. Its initial life cycle ended in 2007 but it was granted a new lease of life for 10 years in 2008.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said Friday the Gori-1 reactor would be shut down at midnight on June 18, waiting for dismantlement in 2022. The reactor has been the source of controversy with activists raising concerns about a possible disaster following the 2011 Fukushima crisis that drew unwelcome attention to the use of nuclear energy.
The shutdown order is in line with President Moon Jae-in's "nuclear exit" campaign aimed at reducing South Korea's heavy dependence on nuclear energy which accounts for about 30 percent of its power supply.
South Korea, which has almost no reserves of fossil fuels on its territory, has actively pushed for a nuclear energy program. Moon, who advocates a fast policy shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, has promised to scrap the planned construction of two new reactors in Gori, block any extension of life for old reactors, and suspend those vulnerable to earthquakes. Energy-related scholars have opposed a radical change, insisting there would be no overnight remedy, citing the slow pace of renewable energy development.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
