By Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporter


A total of four communities _ three cities and one county _ are the main candidates for a low– and medium-level nuclear waste dump site, according to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy Wednesday.

The key candidates are Yongdok County, Kunsan City in North Cholla Province, Kyongju City and Pohang City of North Kyongsang Province.

``We hope that we will finalize the site of the nation’s first nuclear waste dump this time,’’ MOCIE director-general Cho Seok said.

In 2003, the MOCIE designated Wido in Puan County as a nuclear depository site, but it dropped the designation due to strong opposition from residents.

The government has been searching for a site to dump nuclear waste since 1986.

With the current capacity for storage of nuclear waste to be filled by 2008, added urgency has been added to the site selection process.

The government promises to offer incentives to the selected region, including 300 billion won in subsidies through a special law.

To ease the safety concerns of citizens, the government says it will build a low-level nuclear dump site first and later a high-level nuclear repository in a different region through another selection procedure.

Under the government plan, the site will be selected by November this year, following an approval vote of residents.

In addition to geological conditions, the extent of citizens approval as demonstrated by voting will be the government’s most important site selection criterion, MOCIE’s Cho said.

The main voice of opposition to the nuclear waste dump is from environmental advocacy groups in the four candidate regions. They are expected to further highlight residents’ safety concerns before a vote.

``We are also concerned about possible protests by residents of neighboring communities the government’s incentives will not reach,’’ another MOCIE official said.

In a bid to raise public understanding on the safety of nuclear power, four regional governments have already embarked on their own public relations campaigns.

However, the ministry forecast candidates will gain, at least, a 60 percent approval rate in the incoming residential vote.

In addition, industry watchers advised the government to develop a strategy to build a high-level nuclear waste dump by 2016, which will become a harder task.

Nuclear power has played a key role in the economic development of Korea. Korea seeks to raise its dependency on nuclear power amid rising international oil prices.

Currently, Korea is operating 20 nuclear power plants, which account for about 40 percent of the nation’s total power generation.

The government plans to add 10 plants by 2015 to raise the level to 46 percent.

jyseo@koreatimes.co.kr