Lee Chang-geon, a first-generation nuclear engineer and recipient of the South Korean government's Science and Technology Merit Award, who led the country's nuclear industry from its earliest days through technological self-reliance. [Yonhap]
Lee Chang-geon, a first-generation nuclear engineer and recipient of the South Korean government's Science and Technology Merit Award, who led the country's nuclear industry from its earliest days through technological self-reliance. [Yonhap]

Lee Chang-geon, a first-generation nuclear engineer who helped build the foundation of South Korea's nuclear power industry from its inception through technological self-reliance, died Monday. He was 96.

Born in 1930 in Seoncheon, North Pyongan Province, Lee crossed into South Korea in 1947 and enrolled in the electrical engineering department at Seoul National University in 1949. During the Korean War, he served in the Korea Liaison Office (KLO), an irregular intelligence unit operating under the US military.

After the war, Lee helped drive the enactment of domestic nuclear energy legislation and the establishment of government agencies and research institutes through a self-organized study group called the "Nuclear Study Group" in the late 1950s. He played a central role in the introduction of the TRIGA Mark-II, South Korea's first research reactor, in 1959.

In the course of that work, Lee was dispatched to the International School of Nuclear Power in the United States, where he sat an examination under emergency government orders and became the first Korean to obtain a reactor operator's license. He went on to complete a power-upgrade project that raised the TRIGA Mark-II's output from 100 kilowatts to 250 kilowatts — a world first. He also converted the neutron source that had previously been imported in full each year to a regenerative design, successfully producing it domestically and marking the beginning of South Korea's nuclear localization efforts.

Lee also made lasting contributions to the country's nuclear infrastructure. As the official in charge of South Korea's first nuclear power plant site selection, he designated Gori in South Gyeongsang Province as the primary site, establishing a model for future site selections. He also spent more than two decades leading the development of the Korea Electric Power Industry Code (KEPIC), contributing significantly to the standardization and internationalization of power technology.

In recognition of these achievements, Lee became the first Korean to receive the Global Award from the International Nuclear Societies Council (INSC) in 2012, and in 2017 he was named among the inaugural 32 recipients of the South Korean government's Science and Technology Merit Award.

He is survived by his children Lee Hye-il, Lee Ji-hye and Lee In-hye. The funeral home is located at Room 31 of Seoul St. Mary's Funeral Hall. The funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., with burial at Gwangneung Memorial Park.


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