Nuclear Decommissioning Business Forum 2019

The Korea Atomic Industrial Forum (KAIF) hosted the fourth Nuclear Decommissioning Business Forum 2019 under the theme of “Action Plan for the Nuclear Decommissioning Industry Development in Korea” at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel on December 12, 2019. The forum ended up successfully with attracting more than 380 attendees from Korean nuclear industry.

The forum started with an opening address by Mr. Jae-hoon Chung, Chairman of KAIF. He said, “Early separate order for decommissioning Kori Unit 1 is scheduled for boosting Korean nuclear decommissioning industry at an early stage.” He also highlighted active cooperation among the government, industries, academic, and research fields in order to make a successful overseas expansion of decommissioning market after securing domestic capabilities.

At the congratulatory remarks by Young-joon Joo, Deputy Minister of Energy and Resources department at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), he said, "All the entities have been playing significant roles for promoting nuclear decommissioning industry in Korea since a new strategy for the nuclear decommissioning industry development announced in April, 2019 by the government, while making preemptive investments in R&D to expand its nuclear decommissioning capabilities." He celebrated the opening of the forum while highlighting the importance of this forum.

At the first session of the forum, five presentations were made by nuclear decommissioning experts from major countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Germany. They dealt with overview of overseas nuclear decommissioning market, advanced nuclear decommissioning technologies developed by Westinghouse, Orano, and TUV SUD Korea, and they shared lessons learned from decommissioning projects they carried out.

At the second session, Korean experts from the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company (KHNP), KAIF, and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) made presentations respectively on “the preparation for decommissioning Kori Unit 1,” “Action Plan for the Nuclear Decommissioning Industry Development in Korea,” and “Regulatory Framework and Guidance on Decommissioning in Korea.”

At the last session of the presentations, domestic experts had lectures on the topic of the trend of domestic decommissioning technologies; “Status of Preliminary Feasibility Study for R&D on Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants” by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), “Status of Remote Dismantling and Waste Treatment Technology of Large Primary Equipment” by Doosan Heavy Industries and Constuction, and “Introduction of RVI Segmentation Technology” by KEPCO Plant Service and Engineering (KPS).

During the Q&A session and panel discussion at the end of the forum, all panelists discussed about the topic of “Facing Challenges of the Nuclear Decommissioning Industry Development in Korea.” each panelist was also asked a question about what specific areas of the decommissioning project in Korea they would like to take part in. They replied, “They are willing to share their knowledge and experience of a variety of areas such as decontamination, dismantling, waste management, and overall project management as a predecessor.

Throughout the forum, technical poster session was held for promoting decommissioning technologies and equipment developed by SMEs. A handbook for nuclear decommissioning technologies was also distributed to attendees for them to understand the overall current state of the technology development in Korea.