China promotes the construction of offshore nuclear power plants off the coast of Yantai City, Shandong Province
Yantai City and Incheon connected by the West Sea…only 400km in distance
In the event of a nuclear accident, avoiding damage such as devastation in Korea’s fishing industry
Members of the Korean Executive Committee and the 30km Solidarity for Deterrence of Nuclear Reprocessing Tests are holding a press conference on the 11th at the Government Complex Sejong, calling for the 10th cycle of the Fukushima disaster and the suspension of nuclear power generation and abolition. News 1
The government is also getting deeper into China’s policy of building offshore nuclear power plants. This is because China has decided to build an offshore nuclear power plant in the west sea of Korea, but there is no adequate way to stop it. Some are already concerned that if a nuclear power plant accident occurs in the West Sea, it will be difficult to even estimate the damage to the domestic fisheries that will return. This is because it is different from the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan 10 years ago, when the damage to Korea was insignificant thanks to the wind direction and tide flowing toward the Pacific Ocean. This is the background of the government’s decision to publicize China’s offshore nuclear power plant construction to the international community.
The government plans to raise the issue of China’s offshore nuclear power plant at TRM in November
According to the nuclear power industry on the 11th, the government plans to request information on China’s offshore nuclear power plant construction at the Korea-China-Japan High Nuclear Regulatory Council (TRM) to be held in November. The TRM has been held annually since 2008 to share information on major nuclear safety policies and pending issues in Northeast Asia and to discuss ways to promote cooperation in the nuclear safety field in the region. A government official said, “We have not discussed with the Korean government regarding the construction of offshore nuclear power plants in China.” “First, we plan to find out the issue through information sharing.”
Earlier, in the ’14th Five-Year Plan’, which was recently unveiled by the State Council of China, it said, “We will promote advanced nuclear reactor pilot projects such as offshore floating nuclear power platforms.” An offshore floating nuclear power platform refers to a nuclear power plant that is operated on the sea by being loaded onto a barge or ship. The planned installation site is off the coast of Yantai City, Shandong Province, China. It is reported that the China Nuclear Industry Group (CNNC), which has completed the study of offshore nuclear power plants, is currently waiting for the final approval of the construction by the Chinese authorities. Offshore nuclear power plants that can move freely on the sea are used to supply electricity to offshore oil drilling facilities.
The problem is that the straight line distance between Yantai City and Incheon, which is connected to the west sea of Korea, is only 400km. In addition, the wind blows from China toward Korea due to the influence of the westerly wind caused by the Earth’s rotation, and the direction of the current in the coast of Yantai also goes through both the west, south and east seas of Korea. For this reason, if an accident occurs at a Chinese offshore nuclear power plant, Korea is bound to suffer damage. As if taking into account these damages, international environmental groups are fiercely opposed by comparing offshore nuclear power plants to’floating Chernobyl’ or’nuclear titanic’.
The city of Yantai and Incheon in Shandong Province, China, connected by the West Sea. It is about 400km in a straight line. Google map
Government has no way to stop China’s offshore nuclear power plant construction
The worry is that there is no way for the Korean government to stop China’s construction of nuclear power plants in the West Sea. A government official said, “As the Chinese government does not seek consent from China when constructing nuclear power plants in Korea, the Korean government cannot intervene in building nuclear power plants in its territorial waters,” said “Russia is also operating a nuclear power plant at sea.” Since December 2019, Russia has been operating and supplying electricity to the world’s first offshore nuclear power plant,’Academic Lomonosov’ in the Far East.
However, as the Korean government has not been able to release its hands, it is planning to strengthen monitoring of China’s offshore nuclear power plant construction process through TRM. In particular, as China has signed up to the’Early Notification of Nuclear Accidents Agreement’, efforts will be made to ensure that the possibility of a nuclear accident at sea can be recognized in advance. A government official said, “The Chernobyl nuclear accident has increased as the Russian government concealed the accident,” he said. “We will closely monitor the nuclear accident-related information provided by China.”
Hyunwoo Kim reporter [email protected]
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