New KORAD Chairman Lee Jinho Takes Office: "High-Level Waste Repository Site Selection to Proceed Without a Hitch"

Stresses scientific surveys, transparent information disclosure, and communication with local communities.

Lee Jinho, the sixth president of the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD), the agency responsible for radioactive waste management, said it held an inauguration ceremony for its sixth chairman, Lee Jinho, at Korad Hall at its headquarters in Gyeongju on October 14.

Lee, the newly appointed chairman, was born in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in 1965 and earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. He has served as a professor (full-time instructor) at the Korea Military Academy, a non-standing director of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission's SMR Regulatory Research Promotion Task Force, and vice president of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety. KORAD invited applications for the chairman's position in June but relaunched the recruitment process in August after finding no suitable candidate.

In his inaugural address, Lee outlined a new management direction, saying, "We will develop the agency by building innovation on the unwavering foundation of safety and earning public trust through expertise and transparency."

In his address, Lee identified the following as key priorities: carrying out the site-selection roadmap for a high-level radioactive waste management facility without a hitch and establishing a management system; strengthening radioactive waste management capabilities in preparation for the future nuclear era; implementing a smart radioactive waste management system through A·digital transformation; strengthening public communication based on scientific evidence, as well as community participation and mutual growth; and improving the ability to execute innovation and delivering results that the public can feel.

On the management of high-level radioactive waste, he said, "Managing high-level radioactive waste is an important national task for KORAD that requires us to look tens of thousands of years into the future. We will carry out the site-selection roadmap without a hitch through scientific surveys, transparent information disclosure and genuine communication with local communities."

As his first official act after taking office, Lee visited the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Gyeongju and conducted an on-site inspection.

Founded in 2009, KORAD is the country's only agency dedicated to radioactive waste management. It builds and operates the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Gyeongju. KORAD is also the entity responsible for managing high-level radioactive waste under the Special Act on the Management of High-Level Radioactive Waste.

Lee Jinho, the newly appointed chairman of the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency, conducts an on-site inspection at a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Korea Radioactive Waste Agency

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