The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission approved the life span extension of Wolsong unit 1 reactor until November 2022. The 30-year operating license of the reactor in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, ended in November 2012. 

The commission made the decision in a vote early Friday despite strong opposition from some panel members, civic groups and residents.

Government-appointed seven members of the state-run nuclear safety agency voted for the extension of the life span of the old reactor in the nation's southeastern region while two others boycotted the voting.

The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corp. is expected to restart operation of  Wolsong unit 1 and generate power again from April, officials said. The state-run KHNP is responsible for operating the nation’s 23 reactors nationwide.

This is the second time that Korea has renewed the license of an aging nuclear reactor. In 2007, the government extended the life span of the 580-megawatt Gori unit 1 light-water reactor -- which began commercial operations in 1977 -- by 10 years.

The state-run Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety completed inspection of the refurbished and uprated Wolsong unit 1 reactor in October and concluded that it can be operated for another 10 years. However, the NSSC has delayed its decision following mounting questions over the reactor’s safety, especially after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

This is why despite the commission’s decision, industry watchers predict it might take longer time to see With safety issues becoming a national agenda, civic groups and progressive political parties had urged the government to revise its nuclear power-friendly energy policy and to stop extending the life span of aging reactors. Some of progressive civic groups have called for the transition to a nuclear-free nation, gradually shutting down reactors.

“A growing number of ordinary citizens oppose the license renewal of aging reactors as well,’’ environmental group Friends of the Earth Korea said in a recent press event in Seoul.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 adults released Monday, 60.8 percent said the Wolsong unit 1 should be shut down for safety reasons, FEK said.

“According to the results of the survey, the majority wanted the aging reactor to be shut down and felt a lack of communication about the current review process,” an official of the organization said.

By Seo Jee-yeon

(jyseo@heraldcorp.com)