The first phase of the Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in Gyeongju was opened to the public view with a dedication ceremony on Aug. 28.
Among some 1,000 people on hand at the event were Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Gyeongsangbuk-do Gov. Kim Kwan-yong, Vice Minister Moon Jae-do of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Rep. Chung Soo-sung, and Gyeongju City Mayor Choi Yang-shik.
In his congratulatory speech, Prime Minister Hwang said, “It bears precious fruit 30 years after the process began to select a site in 1986, and I extend thanks to Gyeongju citizens for their decision to solve the national safety task.”
Twenty-eight projects have been approved in return for accommodating the radwaste facility, including the provision of 300 billion won in special support. Ongoing projects will be conducted without fail, he noted.
The radwaste facility was built with safety being a top priority, and all-out efforts will be made to ensure the safety of the operation of the facility, the prime minister said.
The Gyeongju facility is the sole low- and intermediate-level radwaste treatment facility in Korea, 38 years after Korea introduced nuclear energy in 1978. Korea’s first nuclear power facility, Kori Nuclear Power Unit 1 began power transmission in 1978.
The nation had failed in nine attempts to build a radwaste treatment facility over 19 years since 1986. It was in November 2005 that Gyeongju citizens voted to attract the facility, paving the way for a solution to the long-overdue national task.
The construction of Korea’s first radwaste facility and its permission obtained world-class safety from foreign and Korean institutions and experts, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The size of the first phase of the Gyeongju facility is three times wider than that of the radwaste facility in Finland. It passed seven safety examinations, including the one by the IAEA.
This past May, the Gyeongju radwaste facility was designated as a “good practice” facility during the Fifth Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, which took place at the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna.
Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) said the designation of the Gyeongju radwaste facility as a “good practice” operation at the Fifth Review Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contributed greatly to enhancing Korea’s global standing in the safety management of radwaste.
KORAD President Lee Jong-in made a presentation on the first phase of an underground silo disposal facility operation plan to construct the second phase surface disposal facility, and the process of the public debate on spent nuclear fuel.
While delivering a national report on Korea, 17 signatory countries, including Canada, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Denmark and Uruguay, held a Q&A session on the convention’s obligations. The introduction of a system of selecting a ratewaste facility site designed to improve public acceptance and the completion of the low- and intermediate-level radewaste treatment facility was selected as a good practice that is applicable to other nations.
In force since 2001, the Joint Convention seeks to achieve and maintain a high level of worldwide safety in spent fuel and radioactive waste management. Korea joined the convention in 2002. Sixty-nine countries are signatories of the Convention, including the United States, Japan, Germany, Sweden and France.
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