원전해체 법제에 관한 시론적 고찰 - 원전해체산업 기반 조성의 관점에서 -

초록

Following the recent shutdown decisions of Gori 1 reactor, the Korea’a first commercial nuclear power plant, and Wolseong 1 reactor, there has been a growing interest in the shutdown of nuclear power plants and their decommissioning. However, despite our rich history of nuclear power generation, the size of the nuclear industry and its international status, policy and strategic developments and legal studies on this latter stage of nuclear lifecycle have recently sprung up. The impetus was provided by the National Energy Commission’s recommendation to permanently shutdown the Gori 1 nuclear power plant, rendered on June 12, 2015. Only then, the Nuclear Safety Act was amended to introduce a basic regulatory framework overseeing the safety of nuclear decommissioning. Fortunately, the strategy for creating a decommissioning fund, the most important issue in the nuclear decommissioning, had been legislated in Article 17 under the Radioactive Waste Management Act earlier in 2008. Although a basic legal framework for nuclear decommissioning has been set out, this is not yet sufficient. There is still a long way to go before securing regulatory competence, technical capabilities and expertise to stably and safely carry out the decommissioning task. This is especially so since the work is notoriously known to accompany unforeseeable risks and contingencies. Moreover, the size and competition in the international nuclear decommissioning market are ever growing without our presence as a competitive player, despite the fact that the time to start decommissioning of Gori 1 reactor approaches quickly at home. Thus, this article discusses and explores, with a clear aim to facilitate fostering a nuclear decommissioning industry in Korea, legal measures necessary to secure stability and safety of nuclear decommissioning, and addresses ways to introduce such measures to the established nuclear law regime. Specifically this article is organized into three main chapters: First, it generally overviews the concept and process of nuclear decommissioning, and proposes some guidance principles to be considered when developing a legal system and/or measures for nuclear decommissioning. These principles will assist to see a complete picture that is created by interactions of the related legal systems so as to effectively, efficiently, and relative rapidly facilitate creation and promotion of a nuclear decommissioning industry in Korea, a new player in the international nuclear decommissioning market. (II). Next, legal measures that are necessary to forster a nuclear decommissioning industry are explored. These measures are classified into four categories: promotion, nuclear safety regulation, administrative procedures and other regulations (III). Finally, it examines various ways to introduce these measures to the current Korean nuclear law system, and concludes with some recommendations for better improvements of the nuclear decommissioning law (IV).

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