Public Consensus on Treatment of Spent Nuclear Fuel Needs to Be Reached

KNEF strives to minimize social conflicts and build public consensus to address the pending issue

More than 20 years were spent to find a site for a low- and medium-grade radwaste treatment facility, a time of bitter conflict. Korea is now facing another daunting issue: the public debate over treating spent nuclear fuel.
The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Korea Nuclear Energy Foundation (KNEF) Chairperson Rhee Jae-hwan, which touched on the pending issue and his management policies, including management reform plans.
Question: Will you tell our readers about the progress of plans to upgrade the KNEF’s management to advanced standards?
Answer: Since my inauguration in December 2008, I established new management goals including KNEF’s mission: “The contribution to society through an improvement of the public’s understanding of the peaceful use of nuclear energy”; its vision: to be a leading institute of national harmony for achieving an advanced energy education/culture center with low carbon, green growth; and management directions: designating 2009 as the first year of crusading for ethical management and ensuring its renewal. I now share them together with all employees. In particular, recognizing the need for placing a priority on ethics beyond public interests and profitability ― the requirements of public organizations ― KNEF has been exerting all its energies to ensure transparent and clean management.
KNEF, the nation’s only institution for improving the general public’s understanding of nuclear energy, has been making flat-out efforts to enhance the public’s acceptance of nuclear energy, as Korea has come from strength to strength to become the sixth biggest nuclear powerhouse in the world. However, despite its ceaseless efforts to improve the public acceptance of nuclear energy, KNEF finds itself facing an unfavorable reality. We’re now doing our utmost to make 2009 the year of renaissance.
KNEF holds a monthly management strategy meeting with all ranks of employees to exchange constructive ideas and suggest and share management policies from the chairperson.
We operate a labor-management consultation committee designed to build confidence and vitalize communications between labor and management under the catchphrase “Realization of Management Efficiency through the Advancement of Labor-Management Relations.” The committee meeting is held on a quarterly basis, and a management explanation session is held on more than two occasions with all labor and management officials participating to share information on management. Labor and management discuss such overall management issues as the introduction of an honorable retirement system and joint labor-management social contribution activities and they strive to explore action plans. KNEF has established itself as an institution of co-prosperity partnership by allowing three labor representatives to be seated at the Regulations Deliberation Committee, which is responsible for legislating and revising all rules and regulations.
I submitted a strategy report on publicizing nuclear energy to the general public at the 255th Nuclear Energy Committee Session presided over by then Prime Minister Han Seung-soo on Dec. 22, 2008, 10 days after my inauguration, proposing the establishment of the “Nuclear Energy Publicity Consultation Committee” comprising of experts from government, industry, academic and public relations circles. The committee, established with the prompt approval of the then prime minister, is in an active session.
KNEF has reorganized its projects into three core programs ― projects for the improvement of next-generation understanding, projects for the building of public confidence and cooperation projects for the solution of current issues ― to enhance efficiency. As a result, nine projects for supporting social organizations, not related to KNEF’s activities, have been removed; four projects including the Nuclear Energy Study Olympiad have been inaugurated; seven projects including the “Nuclear Energy Class” have been overhauled; and such nuclear energy-related projects as the publication of periodicals and a nuclear energy database have been consolidated into four projects. In accordance with the realignment of its core business functions, KNEF has revamped its organization, consolidating two support departments ― the Innovative Planning Office and Administration Office ― into one and inaugurating the Next-generation Education Office responsible for nurturing next-generation understanding as its brand project.
KNEF is restructuring its personnel into a young organization with the goal of axing manpower by 25 percent in stages by 2012 compared to 2008. It plans to build flexible organization and manpower systems through such steps as an honorable retirement system KNEF has redoubled efforts to save ordinary costs by taking such steps as reducing university graduate new hires’ starting pay by 12.5 percent to 2.33 million won per month from 2.66 million won and freezing executive compensation. KNEF front-loaded 62.3 percent of its budget in the first half of this year and hired youth interns equivalent to 4 percent of its personnel quota, contributing to reinvigorating the economy of those in the low-income bracket and relieving the worsening youth unemployment landscape.
Q: The public debate on spent nuclear fuel emerges as the most urgent, pending issue to be addressed by KNEF and nuclear energy circles. Does KNEF have any plans to build public consensus on the debate over spent nuclear fuel?
A: In the second half of this year, KNEF is concentrating its public relations activities on exploring a public consensus in the course of the public debate on the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, the by-product of generating electricity via nuclear power units for the past 30 years.
Making the most of the past 20 years’ bitter lessons that the nation learned through huge social conflicts in the course of selecting the site of a low- and medium-grade radwaste treatment facility, we hope that nuclear energy technology can be accepted amidst a public consensus.
To this end, KNEF is putting more energy into preventing and minimizing social conflicts by aggressively coping with the pending issue.
We plan to provide exact and objective information on spent fuel in accordance with the purpose of the public debate and step up public relations activities for the smooth execution of the pending project.
For instance, KNEF is proactively soliciting the right public understanding of nuclear energy via news media or through the holding of policy seminars and symposiums, experts’ contributions of articles as well as through continuous discussions with social organizations.
Since pubic consensus is significant, KNEF plans to open communication channels by implementing tours to see spent nuclear fuel so that people can get a first-hand look and hear and discuss opinions, utilizing KNEF’s projects to get a better understanding of nuclear energy, including spent nuclear fuel, and opening a Website to that effect.
Q: Will you elaborate on KNEF’s priority projects?
A: Our foundation is carrying out diverse programs on nuclear energy education and observation tours to nuclear facilities designed to help people from all walks of life get a better understanding of the peaceful use of nuclear energy as well as to aid in the dissemination of materials and academic research on the social and psychological impact of nuclear energy. KNEF is focusing on the implementation of projects for the improvement of next-generation understanding of nuclear energy as its representative brand. Energy is an indispensable thing to our life, particularly for Korea, which depends on foreign imports for 97 percent of the nation’s energy demand, so energy policies are considered to be far-sighted national tasks, influencing the existence of a nation like education.
However, the younger generation is feared to lag behind adults in the understanding of nuclear energy. In reality, public surveys indicate that youth have a lot lower understanding of nuclear energy than adults. Accordingly, conducting education programs aimed at helping youth get a better understanding of nuclear energy is believed to lay a significant foundation for pushing future energy policies. This is the reason KNEF is carrying out a series of activities designed to enhance awareness of nuclear energy while designating projects for the improvement of next-generation understanding as its representative brand.
An example is the Happy E-Festival that took place at Daejeon Expo Science Park on May 5. The festival, marking the second year since its inauguration, received rave reviews from family holidaymakers including children, establishing itself as one of the cultural events representing nuclear energy circles. A similar event with even more diverse things to see and experience is slated for Oct. 23-24 at Seoul Children’s Grand Park.
One of the new projects that made its debut this year is the Nuclear Energy Study Olympiad, an essay contest with about 180 entries that took place at the Gwacheon National Science Museum on Aug. 12.
The Nuclear Energy Science Camp, being held in cooperation with 13 educational authorities, designed to provide youth with an opportunity to get a better understanding of nuclear energy, is part of the “Share Understanding of Nuclear Energy Program.”
KNEF, which has been designated as the first nuclear energy educational and training institute by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education this year, plans to expand its on-the-job training courses catering to school teachers. KNEF is striving to inaugurate collegians’ energy circles and so-called “energy caravans,” a study experience camp on nuclear energy.
In celebration of April, the Science Month, and Teachers’ Day in May, 610 people in the nuclear energy field served as one-day teachers to provide education on nuclear energy to more than 100,000 students across the nation.
KNEF has been engaged in such support activities as the distribution of an educational cartoon to 5,900 primary schools across the nation last March. nw

Korea Nuclear Energy Foundation (KNEF) Chairperson Rhee Jae-hwan