Korea revives nuclear power for its 2024-2038 energy plan

South Korea is slated to bring forward action steps on its power supply plan for the 2024-2038 period, with a possibility to review building more nuclear power plants in the country. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which is pushing the expansion of nuclear energy to meet soaring electricity demand, may become the first government to make such decision since 2015.     

At the trade ministry’s energy committee meeting on Monday, a majority of members from the private sector agreed that Korea should establish a new energy mix with more nuclear power plants to meet surging electricity demand, industry insiders said.

The country’s latest energy scheme, the 10th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand, was released in January of this year. The plan aims to increase the nuclear power proportion of the whole energy mix from 27.4% in 2021 to 32.4% by 2030 and resume construction of Shin Hanul nuclear reactors No. 3 and No. 4, which came to a standstill in October 2017.

The administration of former President Moon Jae-in in October 2021 targeted that nuclear energy would make up 23.9% of energy by 2030, under its nuclear phase-out scheme. Yoon has criticized his predecessor's policy on the energy industry, saying “had we not been foolish over the past five years and further reinforced the nuclear power ecosystem, we probably would not have any competitors now.”

Some experts have voiced that Korea should build more nuclear power plants to meet growing demand for electricity in line with expanding chip and battery sectors and the increasing number of electric vehicles.

They have criticized that Korea is too focused on renewables for a stable supply of energy, and that the country also can't increase fossil fuels, which go against carbon neutrality. 

The authorities approved a scheme for the preparatory groundwork of the Shin Hanul reactors last month, 11 months after Yoon announced a plan to reconstruct them. The period from the announcement to approval is nearly one-third the time that former administrations have taken.

The government will start setting up the 11th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand late this month. That compares with former plans have been established with a one-year delay, including the 2022-2036 plan announced in January of this year.

The authorities are likely to publish the 11th scheme for the 2024-2038 plan early next year, a government official said.

Write to Sul-Gi Lee at surugi@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.