Nuclear Plant Closed

[Anchor Lead]

Korea's first commercial nuclear power plant, Kori 1, was permanently decommissioned as of midnight, June 19th. This is the first commercial nuclear power plant to be shut down permanently.

[Pkg]

The Kori No.1, Korea's first nuclear power plant, has been producing power for nearly 40 years since 1978. It has now been permanently decommissioned as of midnight, June 19th. Starting at 6PM last Saturday, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power manually halted the turbine that turns high-temperature, high-pressure steam into electricity and shut down the nuclear reactor. Kori 1 was determined to be permanently decommissioned early this morning, when the temperature of the nuclear reactor fell below 93 degrees Celsius. The disassebly of Kori 1 will start in 2022 after undergoing nuclear fuel cooling and safety tests. The process of decontaminating the facilities and completely disassembling the plant is predicted to take more than 15 years and over 1 trillion won. Kori 1 had accounted for 4.7% of Korea's nuclear power generation. The plant was originally designed to operate for 30 years, but its life was extended for another 10 years in 2005. There was yet another attempt to extend its operation, but it was cancelled by protests from civic and environmental groups. As Kori 1 is permanently shut down, all eyes are now on the fate of the Shin Kori 5 & 6 plants for which about 30% of construction has been completed. President Moon Jae-in had promised to scrap the construction of Shin Kori 5 & 6 during his presidential campaign.