The South Korean government says that its nuclear industry will continue to grow in spite of plans to reduce targets for nuclear power generation in the country. The government has revised down a target for nuclear energy to account for 41 per cent of power generation by 2030, instead aiming for 29 per cent by 2035.
The move is the result of a report published by a public advisory group in 2013 in the wake of a corruption scandal in South Korea’s domestic nuclear energy industry. Nuclear energy currently accounts for 26 per cent of Korea’s power mix.In spite of the lower target for nuclear energy, the country will add 7 GW of new nuclear capacity in order to help preserve energy security and industrial competitiveness. The energy ministry says it will announce more details of the energy plan – including targets for other forms of power generation – later in 2014.
Korea is also planning to continue sales of its reactor abroad. It is hoping to win contracts for new reactors in Finland, Turkey, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia following a successful bid to build four reactors in the UAE.In 2013 three of South Korea’s 23 nuclear reactors were shut down after it was found that the safety certificates for thousands of components had been forged. The three units were given the go-ahead to restart in January 2014.
Sian Crampsie
