Gijang-gun officials met with Kim Hoe-cheon, the newly appointed president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, at the district office Tuesday to discuss key issues surrounding the Kori nuclear power plant. [Provided by Gijang-gun]
Gijang-gun officials met with Kim Hoe-cheon, the newly appointed president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, at the district office Tuesday to discuss key issues surrounding the Kori nuclear power plant. [Provided by Gijang-gun]

Gijang-gun held talks Tuesday with Kim Hoe-cheon, the newly appointed president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), at the district office to discuss key issues surrounding the Kori nuclear power plant, the district announced Wednesday. The meeting was arranged as part of Kim's outreach to communities hosting nuclear power plants following his inauguration on March 18.

Gijang-gun District Mayor U Seong-bin raised local concerns over the distribution of cooperation support funds tied to the continued operation of Kori Units 2, 3 and 4, a matter that has emerged as a major community issue, and called on KHNP to play a more active role in resolving the dispute.

"Community concerns over the consultation procedures and distribution criteria for the cooperation support funds are growing, deepening conflict and division among residents," U said. "To ease residents' sense of loss and resolve the discord, KHNP must step up and put in place fair and reasonable measures."

U also conveyed the district's position that substantive prior consultation with local authorities was needed regarding support and shared-benefit measures related to the construction of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. Gijang-gun called for the formation of a consultative body — comprising the High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Committee, local governments and KHNP — before public opinion is gathered under the special act on high-level radioactive waste management, and said concrete shared-benefit measures that residents could accept must be drawn up in advance.

On the planned memorandum of understanding related to the first-unit project for KHNP's innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR), U said that "addressing residents' safety concerns about the SMR must come before any administrative cooperation," adding that "KHNP, as the project operator, must provide objective and transparent information directly and hold a public briefing on SMR safety first."

In response, KHNP President Kim said he would "listen carefully to the various local issues and the voices of residents" and pledged to "closely examine the local situation regarding the distribution of cooperation support funds for the continued operation of Kori Units 2, 3 and 4 and work toward an amicable resolution." He also said KHNP would "consult closely with Gijang-gun in advance" on the issues raised at the meeting, including holding a public briefing on the SMR project.


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