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.