[2026 Parliamentary Audit] "425.3 billion won nuclear industry fund had no approval documents for 7 years"... Nuclear plant safety management under scrutiny

Rep. Choi Hyukjin: "All 26 decisions were made by email and approved as proposed"
Raises concerns over transparency in fund management
Cho Kyungtae calls for testing of nuclear plants' defenses against drones
Spent nuclear fuel disposal measures also in focus

During the management of a nuclear industry fund worth 425.3 billion won, no internal approval documents were kept for seven years, and all 26 major decisions were made by email, lawmakers said during a parliamentary audit. Concerns were also raised about the lack of effective testing of nuclear power plants' defenses against drone attacks and uncertainty over securing facilities to dispose of spent nuclear fuel.

At an audit by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on October 13, independent lawmaker Choi Hyukjin criticized the fund's management, saying that although the fund totals 425.3 billion won this year, only 186.2 billion won is actually being spent on projects.

Gori Nuclear Power Plant (Gori Unit 2, second from the right). The Asia Business Daily DB.

Choi claimed that no internal approval documents related to the fund's management had been kept for seven years and that no minutes of decision-making meetings were available. He said that all 26 resolutions on fund management had been handled by email and that every proposal had been approved as originally submitted.

He also questioned how the fund's assets were being managed. Choi said that more money had been accumulated than was needed for project expenses, and that about half of those funds were invested in financial products that could lose principal.

"We need to make decisions responsibly. We need to keep records," Choi said, calling for a draft evaluation framework aligned with the fund's objectives and proposals to improve the system to be prepared before the parliamentary audit ends.

Insufficient testing of nuclear plant defenses against drones... Spent nuclear fuel disposal also remains a challenge

Cho Kyung-tae of the People Power Party said that the effectiveness of nuclear power plants' defenses against drone attacks had not been adequately tested under real threat conditions.

Citing materials submitted by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Cho said that no separate tests had been conducted for different types of drone threats. "How can we know which equipment can stop which drones without even testing it?" he asked.

Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Chair Choi Wonho answers lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit of the commission and other agencies at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dongju

Choi Wonho, chair of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, said Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power had commissioned a design study to strengthen its defensive equipment. Cho called for the commission to verify the plants' actual detection and response capabilities, develop measures to address any shortcomings, and report back before the comprehensive parliamentary audit.

Securing facilities to dispose of spent nuclear fuel also emerged as a key issue. At the audit, lawmakers said that wet storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel at some nuclear power plants could reach capacity in about four years, while the availability of interim storage facilities and a final disposal facility remained uncertain.

Choi said that a management plan for high-level radioactive waste was being drawn up, but identified public acceptance as the biggest obstacle to securing a disposal facility.

He said it takes about 100,000 to 300,000 years for the radioactive toxicity of spent nuclear fuel from light-water reactors to fall to the level of natural uranium, compared with about 10,000 years for spent nuclear fuel from heavy-water reactors.

Choi also explained his remarks at last year's parliamentary audit that it would take decades to hundreds of years for spent nuclear fuel to become safe.

"I said that because spent nuclear fuel is managed safely from the moment it is produced," he said. "Generally, after five to six years, its heat falls considerably and fission almost ceases. I meant that it becomes safe in that sense after decades, but I think I misunderstood the intent of the question."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.