Yoon pledges to export 10 nuclear power plants by 2030 if elected

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday that he will export 10 nuclear power plants by 2030 if elected, as he continues to slam the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear phase-out policy.

Yoon also vowed to resume construction of two nuclear reactors — Shin-Hanul No. 3 and No. 4. Construction work for the two reactors has been suspended since 2017 under the nuclear phase-out policy.

Yoon said he will deepen nuclear cooperation with the United States to create 100,000 jobs by winning orders for more than 10 nuclear power plants from eastern Europe and the Middle East.

He announced the campaign pledges on the nuclear industry as he visited the construction site of the two reactors in the coastal county of Uljin, 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Yoon said he will “form a pan-governmental organization for exports of nuclear power plants and build a process to push for exports of nuclear power plants.”

“By strengthening the foundation for exports of nuclear power plants, I will create decent jobs at home and abroad for future generations,” Yoon said.
The nuclear phase-out scheme set by Moon’s government centers on slowly breaking away from nuclear energy by refraining from building additional plants while retiring old ones. Under the roadmap, South Korea plans to decrease the number of nuclear plants in operation to 17 by 2034, from this year’s 24.

The government plans to reduce nuclear energy to account for 23.9 percent of the country’s total power generation by 2030 from around 30 percent last year. It targets to raise the proportion of renewable sources to 20 percent from 6.6 percent over the same period.

Yoon said he will keep the proportion of nuclear energy at some 30 percent by approving operations of nuclear reactors when they secure safety.

Yoon claimed that nuclear energy will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Moon has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, but Yoon said the goal was set “without sufficient discussions.”

Yoon criticized Moon’s carbon neutrality plan for “causing negative results, including a rise in electricity prices, a decline in competitiveness of nuclear power industry and a decrease in jobs.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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