Reasons for Proposal
The temporary storage facilities of spent nuclear fuels currently installed and operated in the sites of nuclear power plants are expected to reach the limit of their capacity before long as they continue to accommodate accumulated spent nuclear fuels.
In response, the Government is planning to select a site to construct high-level radioactive waste management facilities such as interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuels and disposal facilities in areas outside nuclear power plant sites, and has also submitted the bill of the Act on the Procedure for Selecting Sites for High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Facilities and Supporting Local Areas, which stipulates matters concerning the site selection of the management facilities, on November 2, 2016.
However, it is important to collect opinions from various parts of society in the process of establishing a management plan and selecting a management facility site and to confirm whether the residents concerned agree with such plan through voting because the high-level radioactive wastes such as spent nuclear fuels place a great burden to the surrounding environment and residents due to the possibility of serious risks.
Therefore, this proposal aims to complement the weaknesses of the bill submitted by the government, the Radioactive Waste Management Act and the Nuclear Safety Act, and to establish special Acts stipulating policies and duties for the safe management of high-level radioactive wastes to enhance democracy and transparency and to minimize social conflict in the site selecting process of high-level radioactive waste management and its management facility.
Details
A. Formulate and operate the High-Level Radioactive Waste Safety Management Committee under the Prime Minister to deliberate and resolve matters necessary for the management of high-level radioactive waste facilities and the examination and selection of the relevant site (from Article 6 to Article 12)
B. Require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to establish the basic plan and go through the public debate procedure to gather opinions from various stakeholders including experts for the safe systematic management of high-level radioactive wastes; and obligate high-level radioactive waste management operators to establish an implementation plan for high-level radioactive waste management according to the basic plan (from Article 13 to Article 15)
C. Require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to establish an examination plan for the suitabiltiy of a high-level radioactive waste management site (Article 16)
D. Obligate the Safety Management Committee to draw up the list of candidate sites for the basic examination of site suitability; and require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to select the sites subject to the basic examination and perform such examination after receiving applications from the competent head of a Si/Gun/Gu of the candidate sites (Article 17)
E. Obligate the Safety Management Committee to narrow the list of sites for the in-depth examination of site suitability after evaluating the results of the basic examination; and require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to perform an in-depth examination of the sites subject to the in-depth examination (Article 18)
F. Obligate the Safety Management Committee to narrow down the planned site for the management facility after evaluating the results of the in-depth examination; and require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to make the final selection of the site for the management facility through voting among residents in accordance with the Residents Voting Act and by deliberation and resolution of the Safety Management Committee (Article 19)
G. Establish the Management Facility Area Support Committee under the Prime Minister to deliberate important matters concerning the support of the surrounding area of the selected management facility site; and require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy and the heads of related central administrative agencies to establish and execute a regional support plan and implementation plan, respectively (from Article 20 to Article 23)
H. Require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to establish and operate underground research facilities to verify the safety of high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities (Article 24)
I. Allow the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to cancel the selection of the management facility site i) where an unexpected problem arises during the construction thereof, ii) where the site suitability examination is prepared falsely, or iii) if the management facility cannot be constructed due to disasters, etc. (Article 25)
J. Require the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to establish management standards for the safe management of high-level radioactive wastes, to order management operators to establish a foundation construction plan for creating the management infrastructure, and to allow the management operators to operate the safety management technology development business and professional workforce training business (from Article 26 to Article 29)
K. Require each nuclear power plant operator to establish the relevant facility plan if he/she intends to construct a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuels in a nuclear power plant; and stipulate the matters of a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuels, such as storage capacity limitation of the temporary storage facility (Article 30)
References
This legislative bill is subject to the resolution of the Partial Revision to the Nuclear Safety Act (Bill No. 14500), which was proposed by Woo Wonshik, Member of Parliament, and thus, if the legislative bill is not passed or is amended, it should be adjusted accordingly.
