According to the government’s post-nuclear power plant policy, the life of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4, which was expected to go through a full-blank procedure in February next year, is expected to be extended. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power are actively considering extending the power generation permit for Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 to avoid liability for damages.
If the power generation permit is extended, Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 will continue to maintain the current situation where neither dies nor lives. There are many predictions that it will continue to live until 2022, when the next presidential election is held. When the prosecution started the investigation of the suspicion of manipulating the economic feasibility of the Wolsong unit 1, it is interpreted that the burdened administration turned over the responsibility for the decision to the regime.
Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 likely to live in’zombie state’
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 31st, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power recently made a verbal request to the Ministry of Industry to extend the period of permission for power generation projects for Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4. KHNP plans to request this again as an official document in January. It is known that the Ministry of Industry is positively considering the extension of the power generation business license.
The background is this. When the current government announced the’De-nuclear Power Plant Roadmap’ in October 2017, the construction of six new nuclear power plants such as Samcheok Daejin Nuclear Power Plant and Yeongdeok Cheonji Power Plant was decided to abolish. Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 were also included. However, unlike other nuclear power plants that were unable to receive such charges, such as withdrawing the designation of the construction site, Shinhanul Units 3 and 4 did not take any special administrative measures and left them on hold. After KHNP received the permit for the power generation business of Shinhanul Units 3 and 4 in 2017, it invested 790 billion won to start construction work, because if it is forcibly canceled, it is likely to become a legal issue in the future.
In order for KHNP to begin the construction of nuclear power plants in earnest, it must obtain a new construction plan approval in addition to the power generation project license previously received. However, KHNP, conscious of the post-nuclear policy, did not apply. The problem is that the government can revoke the power generation project license if the construction plan is not approved’without justifiable reason’ within four years after obtaining the power generation project license under the Electricity Business Act. Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 will be on February 26 next year. Until this time, related industries and academia predicted that the government will begin the procedure of dismantling Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 in accordance with the nuclear power plant policy.
However, in this case, there is a high possibility that the Ministry of Industry and KHNP will overturn the liability for damages. A legal official said, “If the government wants to revoke the approval of Shinhanul Units 3 and 4 in February next year, it must be acknowledged that’KHNP has not obtained approval without justifiable reasons. Since it was a matter that was resolved in the KHNP standpoint, it should be said that there was a valid reason for not obtaining approval.” If the permit for Shinhanul Units 3 and 4 is revoked, KHNP’s future renewable power generation projects may be blocked according to the Electricity Business Act.
In the midst of this, the Ministry of Industry is said to have taken a step toward extending the power generation business license. This is because KHNP’s legal issues, such as the position of responsibility, have not been clearly resolved, and the decision to make a hasty decision could become a problem in the future, such as the suspicion of manipulating the economic feasibility of the Wolsong Unit 1.
However, it is unlikely that construction will resume. This is because the resumption of construction is in total opposition to the roadmap for denuclearization, which was decided at the Moon Jae-in government’s state council meeting, and the Ministry of Industry, which is a government department, and KHNP, an affiliated agency, have no authority to disobey it. It is predicted that Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 will continue the’zombie state’ until 2022, when the next presidential election is held.
Was it an aesthetic government,’Wolseong Unit 1 Trauma’?
It was self-evident that if the construction of Shinhanul 3 and 4 was cancelled, the Ministry of Industry or KHNP would likely be liable for compensation. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction suffered the most damage as the construction of Shinhanul 3 and 4 was suspended indefinitely. This is because more than half of KHNP’s construction cost of 790 billion won is Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction’s pre-production cost (492.7 billion won). Since private companies have become victims of the policy, either the government or public enterprises must take responsibility and compensate for it. Nevertheless, the government and KHNP have postponed separate administrative measures since 2017.
Gwanga’s interpretation is that the’Wolseong Unit 1 investigation trauma’ of the Ministry of Industry and KHNP is underlying the sudden movement of the government to extend the permit. The Ministry of Industry is facing measles, including incumbent officials being arrested in connection with the case of manipulating the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1. An official of the government said, “The public’s attention is drawn to the Ministry of Industry and the nuclear power plant due to the prosecution investigation related to the post-nuclear power plant.”
The Ministry of Industry is reluctant to express its official position. An official from the Ministry of Industry said, “It is a matter to be decided after a thorough legal review.”
Reporter Seong Soo-young [email protected]