Nuclear power budget has increased more than threefold compared to 19 years ago
Government budget for nuclear power generation has surged threefold, and the burden has increased even for decommissioning and waste disposal costs Check the SMR budget and provisions for liabilities, and see the controversy over the economic viability of new nuclear power plants
According to a report released on the 20th by the Federation for Environmental Movements and the Energy and Climate Policy Institute, the government budget related to nuclear power generation has increased more than threefold, from 473.4 billion won in 2007 to 1.4582 trillion won this year. The report analyzed that research and development (R&D), responses to safety regulations, and postprocessing costs such as decommissioning and waste treatment drove the budget expansion.
The researchers pointed out that while public support for nuclear power plants generally decreases after commercialization, in reality, the more they are built and operated, the more spending increases. In particular, they also cited as a problem the fact that budgets for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) and innovative small modular reactors (iSMRs) have recently been allocated mainly through funds, making oversight by the National Assembly and the public relatively difficult.
It was also found that the financial burden of decommissioning and spent nuclear fuel disposal is significant, with postprocessing restoration provisions on Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's financial statements amounting to about 28 trillion won. The researchers suggested that the economic feasibility of new nuclear power plants and electricity demand projections need to be independently reviewed.