Article: The Korean experience

Sunday August 16, 2009

SOUTH Korea is a leading advocate of nuclear power. The country has over 20 nuclear power plants which supply over 40% of its electricity needs.

But nuclear power remains a sensitive issue because North Korea is widely believed to have been developing an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Since the 1970s, however, successive South Korean governments have made it clear that they use nuclear power purely for peaceful, industrial purposes.

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) is the nuclear regulatory body in the country. Its president, Dr Peter C.H. Yun, was in Malaysia this week and met with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, and officials from the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).

Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan (left) and Dr Peter Yun.

The Korean nuclear experience has not been entirely smooth as a strong anti-nuclear lobby in South Korea occasionally foils government plans to create disposal locations in Anmyondo and Uljin (the latter is the site of two nuclear power plants).

Yun maintains that Korean nuclear power development has always observed a safety-first policy. "Safety has been a top priority that goes hand in hand with modern development. In fact it is because we have high standards of safety regulated by an independent body that public confidence in the nuclear industry is so strong. This has enabled our industry to grow – we are at the top in terms of percentage of electricity generated through nuclear power.

"Since we first went nuclear in 1978, we have had a lot of experience dealing with issues surrounding nuclear technology. Now that many countries have expressed a desire to go nuclear, we help them."

Yun is confident that Malaysia is ready to embrace the nuclear age. "If we look at our co-operation with the AELB, we can see that Malaysian scientists and officials are very well prepared to go nuclear. I can say they are much better prepared than (South) Korea was when we started our programme." – MARTIN VENGADESAN

Related Stories:
'We are not afraid'
Benefits of nuclear energy
Safe, clean and abundant
Costly and unsafe

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus 16 August 2009