Ending Nuclear Era

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in has attended a ceremony marking the permanent shutdown of the KORI 1 nuclear reactor to declare the end of an era. The president vowed to scrap plans for constructing new nuclear power plants and insinuated at the possibility of halting ongoing construction projects.

[Pkg]

President Moon Jae-in enters the venue of an event that was organized to shut down the KORI 1 nuclear reactor along with plant workers, local residents and environmental activists. The president said that the permanent shutdown of the KORI 1 reactor is the first step toward becoming a nuclear-free and safe nation. He also called for energy policies designed to ensure public safety and sustainable growth.

[Soundbite] Pres. Moon Jae-in : "I believe that clean energy and people's safety are the goals of our energy policies."

President Moon said that Korea is no longer safe from earthquakes, and vowed to pursue nuclear safety as an issue of national security. To this end, he pledged to promote the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission to a presidential agency, and scrap economic growth policies centered on nuclear power plants. He also vowed to cancel the construction of new nuclear power plants and shut down the Wolseong 1 nuclear reactor, whose design life had been extended. The president insinuated at the possibility of halting the construction of the Shin-KORI 5 and 6 reactors after discussing their safety and power reserve rates. Regarding concerns over power supply and electricity costs, the president expressed confidence.

[Soundbite] Pres. Moon Jae-in : "Our society can handle it. I will devise a safe nuclear-free roadmap for the nation in the near future."

President Moon promised support for the cheap and timely production of new renewable energy such as solar power instead of cutting down on nuclear and fossil fuel power, and to foster the nuclear power plant decommissioning sector by securing relevant technologies, which currently reach 80 percent of those in advanced nations.