Yeongdeok and Gijang Selected as Candidate Sites for New Nuclear Power Plants

The site selection evaluation committee for new nuclear power plants under Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has finalized and announced the candidate sites for new nuclear power facilities.

Yeongdeok-gun in North Gyeongsang Province has been selected as the candidate site for a large-scale nuclear power plant, while Gijang-gun in Busan has been chosen as the candidate site for a Small Modular Reactor (SMR).

The evaluation committee stated that in the site assessment results, Yeongdeok-gun, which applied for the large-scale plant, scored 91.01 points, while Ulju-gun in Ulsan scored 82.63 points.

Additionally, Gijang-gun in Busan, which applied for the SMR, scored 87.11 points, and Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province scored 84.56 points, leading to the final selection of the top-ranked regions as the candidate sites.

Yeongdeok-gun received higher evaluations than other regions in areas including public opinion surveys regarding resident acceptance, as well as site suitability and environmental impact. Gijang-gun was rated highly in public opinion surveys regarding resident acceptance and site suitability.

Following the finalization of the 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand in February of last year, KHNP announced the site selection process in March of the same year and formed an evaluation committee in April of last year to conduct site reviews.

Subsequently, in January of this year, KHNP opened a call for bids for new nuclear power plant sites to local governments nationwide. As a result, Ulju-gun in Ulsan and Yeongdeok-gun in North Gyeongsang Province applied for the large-scale plant, while Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province and Gijang-gun in Busan applied for the SMR.

The evaluation committee stated, "A stable power supply is an essential task for securing national competitiveness and for future generations," adding, "We have made efforts to find the optimal locations by prioritizing their role as base-load power sources to support the industrial ecosystem and regional coexistence."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.