A seminar hosted by the Korea Nuclear Energy Promotion Agency and the French Atomic Agency on increasing public acceptance of nuclear power plants will take place Friday at the National Assembly.

At the seminar, experts from the nuclear industry and media as well as research professionals are to discuss the direction the nuclear industry should take following the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March.

The assembled experts will also discuss strategies for increasing the public’s acceptance of nuclear power and look at their tasks from both social and technological view points. 

The event is the second of its kind to be held in Seoul in as many weeks, as the Korea Nuclear Energy Promotion Agency drives to play a bigger role on the international stage.

From Oct. 10 to 14, the Korea Nuclear Energy Promotion Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency hosted a workshop for public information on new nuclear power plants.

The event brought together public relations and information experts from 14 countries that have or plan to build nuclear power plants to share information and to seek ways to improve public awareness of nuclear power.

Friday’s seminar kicks off with speeches from Prof. Chang Soon-heung, president of the Korean Nuclear Society and chief of the French Atomic Agency Philippe Garderet.

Garderet’s speech will touch on the importance of nuclear power in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the impact of the developments at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has had on the world’s nuclear power policies.

In addition, Garderet will tell the audience about France’s nuclear power industry. France is one of the world’s leaders in nuclear power with more than 75 percent of the country’s power needs met by nuclear power stations. Through its nuclear power policy, France has cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 66 percent, and France is home of some of the world’s most advanced facilities for reprocessing nuclear fuel.

Chang’s speech will be focused on Korea’s nuclear power policies, which aim to develop the country into one of the world’s leaders in the field, as well as policies for strengthening public acceptance of nuclear power.

The speeches will be followed by a series of presentations on a variety of topics including public relations and Korea’s nuclear power research and safety measures in light of the Fukushima disaster.

French experts will also offer their views on topics such as discussions that arose after the developments in Japan, and research for developing sustainable nuclear power.

The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from the academia, media and non-governmental organization about the tasks that need to be carried out to improve public acceptance of nuclear power plants.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)