[Anchor]

Following the construction of semiconductor plants in the southwestern region, a 392 trillion won investment blueprint for the Chungcheong region was announced today (July 2). Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and others plan to build new facilities, including storage memory plants, semiconductor back-end processing plants, and AI data centers. With large-scale investments being pushed across the country centered on high-tech industries, power demand is expected to surge, necessitating a revision of power supply plans.

The Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy stated that the construction of new nuclear power plants could be considered. Reporter Park Jaehyeon examines whether this is feasible.

[Reporter]

The construction site of the SK Hynix semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Four plants are scheduled to operate on a site equivalent to the size of 580 soccer fields.

Samsung Electronics is also planning to establish six semiconductor plants on nearby land.

The power required to operate all 10 semiconductor plants is 15GW, a level that would require 10 nuclear power plants to support.

Yongin City had originally planned to supply power sequentially as the plants were completed, but setbacks have become inevitable.

This is because the announcement of the three major mega-projects includes plans to move up the completion dates by 7 years for Samsung Electronics and 12 years for SK Hynix.

Adding to this the 6.3GW required for four semiconductor plants to be built in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, 18.4GW for AI data centers nationwide, and the semiconductor back-end processing plants in the Chungcheong region announced today, at least 25GW more is needed.

Consequently, the possibility of building additional nuclear power plants is being raised.

[Kim Sung-hwan/Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy (Today, SBS Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show): "If there is a need to build more (semiconductor plants) on the scale of the Yongin cluster, then we will have to think about it. Under the premise that it is slightly risky but managed safely, we could use nuclear power as a kind of base-load power source..."]

The government has decided to revise the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, for which power demand and supply forecasts had already been completed, and it is highly likely that the construction of additional nuclear power plants will be reflected in the plan.

[Heo Jin/Chairman of the Subcommittee on Demand Planning for the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand (The day before yesterday, National Assembly Climate Change Forum): "Because there was a major announcement, it is scheduled to be significantly revised and supplemented."]

Nuclear power plants require more than 10 years from site selection to completion.

The government plans to first increase the output of LNG power plants, which are currently operating at about 50 percent capacity, while also expanding renewable energy such as solar power, introducing energy storage systems, and building additional pumped-storage power plants.

[Yoo Seung-hoon/Professor of Future Energy Convergence at Seoul National University of Science and Technology: "It won't work with just renewable energy, and it won't work with just nuclear power either. An 'energy mix' strategy that utilizes all possible power sources is an important task..."]

With the urgent need for large-scale power plants and the expansion of transmission networks, resolving conflicts with local regions and residents remains another challenge to be addressed.

(Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi, Design: Jeon Yu-geun, Footage courtesy of: National Assembly Climate Change Forum)