Police are on patrol in the headquarters of South Korea's nuclear power operator in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.[Yonhap News Photo ]
At an undisrupted meeting in a hotel room, the 13-member board of South Korea's power plant operator endorsed a government decision to suspend the construction of two nuclear reactors under President Moon Jae-in's "nuclear exit" policy.
The meeting came a day after hundreds of workers blocked board members from entering a building used by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) as its head office in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.
KHNP President Lee Kwan-sup and other board members held a secret meeting Friday in a hotel in Gyeongju and approved a cabinet decision on June 27 to stop the construction of two reactors, slated for completion in 2022 near the southeastern port city of Busan, pending public hearings and debate for three months.
KHNP's labor union refused to accept Friday's decision, slamming board members for handling a crucial issue at a secret session. "We will not accept it because board members made a decision on a crucial national issue like thieves in the night."
The union fears massive layoffs and the collapse of a nuclear energy industry which has accumulated world-class technologies for decades. More than 10,000 workers have been involved in the project and opponents claimed financial losses would be far higher than a government estimate.
Samsung C&T, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Hanwha Engineering & Construction have formed a consortium to build the two reactors, helped by hundreds of subcontractors.
Moon promised to replace old nuclear and coal-powered thermal power plants with clean and renewable energy sources and closed South Korea's oldest 580-megawatt reactor on June 18. Industrial and academic communities have challenged his campaign to reduce South Korea's heavy dependence on nuclear energy which accounts for about 30 percent of its power supply.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
임장원
cwlim34@ajunews.com
