Korea's Improved Profile in Global
Nuclear Power Community

Admission to IRNA recognizes the nation's efforts to ensure nuclear safety

Korea was recently admitted into the International Nuclear Regulators Association in recognition of its regulatory capability of ensuring nuclear safety.
"Korea's admission into INRA marks the first door-opening of the association and recognition of Korea's enforcement of nuclear safety regulations not only by INRA member countries but also the world,"said Lee Mun-ki, director general of Atomic Energy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), in an interview with NewsWorld. The following are the excerpts of the interview with Lee.
Question: Will you tell the achievements your ministry has made during its efforts to ensure nuclear safety in the past decade?
Answer: MOST, the regulatory authority of ensuring and inspecting the safety of nuclear facilities has made its top priority protecting people's safety and the environment.
First, the government has overhauled laws and regulations on nuclear power to upgrade the safety of nuclear power to international standards. It has amended or changed the pertinent laws and regulations by accepting safety guidelines set by IAEA and advanced nuclear energy countries while using the outcomes of research on nuclear safety at home and abroad.
Secondly, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) was established as an independent nuclear safety expert organization in February 1990, and its specialized manpower has been expanded to 357 experts, including 36 doctorate holders, to ensure nuclear safety.
Lastly, our judgment is that our ministry's decision to make regulatory administration on nuclear safety transparent through disclosure of information on nuclear safety to the public has greatly contributed to raising the public confidence regarding nuclear safety.
These efforts have paid off. I believe that recognizing Korea's regulatory capability for ensuring nuclear safety, the global nuclear power community has allowed Korea to be admitted into the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), a body designed to influence and enhance nuclear safety, from the regulatory prospective, among its members and worldwide. INRA sent a statement dated on March 16, saying that Atomic Energy Director General Lee is welcomed as a regular member of the association.
Q: What's e the significance and the benefits of Korea's accession into INRA?
A: Korea's admission into INRA marks the first door-opening of the association and recognition of Korea's enforcement of nuclear safety regulations not only by INRA member countries but also the world.
Korea will be able to actively participate in INRA activities, including discussions and decision-making on pending issues over nuclear safety. The country is expected to diversify international contact channels designed to publicize transparency in Korea's nuclear power and promote cooperation with European countries, including Germany, Spain and Sweden.
It is also expected to facilitate exchanges among INRA members and technological cooperation between member countries, which could contribute to upgrading the domestic regulatory technology level on nuclear safety to a matured one and possibly lead to a greater say and improved standing - better opportunity for Koreans to take up ranking positions in international organizations.
Q: Can you explain the major business plans your bureau intends to implement?
Since the legislation of the Atomic Energy Act in 1958, Korea has pursued peaceful uses of nuclear power. A total of 20 nuclear units have been constructed and operated since April 1978 when the Kori Unit 1 was put into commercial operation. Nuclear power accounts for some 40 percent of Korea's annual total power supply, elevating Korea to the sixth biggest nuclear powerhouse.
Korea's first nuclear unit will undergo inspections and replacements before it is permitted to allow the resumption of its operation for another 10 to 20 years beyond the design life span around next June.
The ministry aims to make Korea a global top five nuclear powerhouse and establish an advanced nuclear safety management regime by strengthening a foundation for expanding nuclear power application technologies and establishing radiation safety management measures and countermeasures against radioactivity terrors. These policies are carried out under the principle of promoting peaceful uses of nuclear power and advancing safety management regimes.
Within this year, it is seeking to establish the 3rd nuclear power promotion master plan, designed to map out mid- and long-term nuclear power policy visions during the period between 2007 and 2011 with the goal of becoming an advanced nuclear power country and the 3rd mid- and long-term nuclear power research plan (between 2007 and 2011) calling for introduction of national nuclear power technology map, dubbed "NuTRM"and performance-base R&D system.
As part of its efforts to strengthen nuclear power's role as a next-generation energy resource and R&D activities on its uses, Korea is working on the commercialization of System-Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor (SMART), a desalination reactor the nation has developed for exporting since 1997 as well as the development of hydrogen production system utilizing nuclear power in anticipation of the arrival of the so-called hydrogen economy era. Korea is building up a foundation for strengthening her presence in the next-generation nuclear power technology market by inking a basic agreement on jointly developing Generation IV Nuclear Energy System (GIV) with advanced countries.
The ministry has established a Radiation Research Institute designed to promote research on radiation in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province this year in a bid to build up infrastructure for the development of radiation uses.
In order to dispel international suspicions over Korean scientists'testing of nuclear materials, the Korean government declared four principles on peaceful uses of nuclear power in September 2005. It pledged to abide by transparency of nuclear power and domestic and international regulations on nuclear nonproliferation.
The Korean government separated the Technology Center for Nuclear Control (TCNC) under the umbrella of the KAERI and established the National Nuclear Control Agency (NNCA), an independent watchdog designed to enhance the nation's nuclear transparency in October 2004.
The ministry has worked out steps designed to ensure safety of long-standing nuclear power units by overhauling relevant systems like the establishment of integrated safety management procedures, aimed at solving such problems as duplication of restrictions arising from two-tier safety management system.
It is endeavoring to raise public awareness of nuclear power by operating such forums as Nuclear Power Safety Forum and raise the public understanding of radiation by launching a program under which primary and secondary school students are given an opportunity to experience radiation technologies.
Korea is operating a GPS-based position detection system, developed by capitalizing Korea's advanced IT infrastructure system, for the purpose of preempting radioactive terrorist attacks. The operation of the system was advanced against possible terror attacks during the APEC Summit Talks held in Busan last November. Earlier, the position detection system was test-operated to search and keep a close lookout against theft and disappearance of 100 radioisotope carriers.
The government has developed an emergency medical service delivery system designed to cope with radioactive disasters by increasing to 25 the number of radioactive medical service institutions by 2005 and offering training programs for raising radioactive treatment capability.
Q: What roles and plans does MOST play in the construction of the planned low- and intermediate-grade radioactive waste treatment site?
A: Ensuring safety is the most essential element of the construction and operation of the radioactive waste treatment facility. MOST is making all-out efforts to ensure safety lest accidents causing public worry should occur in the course of the construction and operation of such facilities.
If Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Co. submits an application on the construction and operation of the radioactive waste treatment facility in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act, the ministry will not only scrutinize documents, including a report of the geological characteristics of the planned site, bust also conduct a field feasibility and safety checks through consultation with domestic and foreign exports.
To this end, a nuclear safety examination preparation corps, headed by a director general for nuclear safety, was established on June 1, 2004. The corps has legislated or amended 16 technical standards, while have made preparations for upgrading the expertise of ensuring safety by promoting technology cooperation with foreign countries and dispatching officials to specialized institutions.
Q: Will you tell our readers the policy direction for ensuring nuclear power safety is heading?
A: Unlike last year, the regulatory environment for ensuring nuclear power has been altered much this year, as the regulatory demand for nuclear power safety has increased quantitatively and the need for managing countermeasures against terrorist attacks has mounted.
In order to proactively cope with the changing regulatory environment on nuclear safety, MOST has established five basic guidelines, calling for, among others, implementation of filed safety management systems based on advanced regulatory methods and establishment of comprehensive protection and relief measures against nuclear disasters and introduction of quality management systems designed to upgrade safety regulation standards.
Under the above basic guidelines on nuclear safety, the ministry carries out such action steps as the operation of an exclusive inspection team of each nuclear unit, in-depth scrutiny into the construction of nuclear units, establishment of radioactive disaster prevention procedures and implementation of quality management plans or safety regulations.
If these basic guidelines and action steps on nuclear safety are carried out faithfully, I expect to gain public confidence over the safety of nuclear power by securing top-class nuclear safety preparedness. nw

Lee Mun-ki, director general of Atomic Energy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)