Nuclear Power Public Deliberation Committee Forms 9-Member Expert Panel; Citizen Discussions Set for Dec. 11-13

The Nuclear Power Public Deliberation Committee will hold deliberative discussions with its citizen panel over three days and two nights, from December 11 to 13. Environmental groups declined to nominate experts, so the committee will select the three environmental experts itself.

On October 21, the committee, established for the Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, held its third meeting at the Power Infrastructure Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and approved plans for forming its expert panel and the schedule for the citizen panel’s deliberative discussions.

Kim Seong-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, delivers a report on his ministry's work during a parliamentary audit held by the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee at the National Assembly on the 6th. Yonhap News

The expert panel will consist of nine members: three in the environmental field, three in nuclear power, and three in the neutral category. After environmental groups declined to nominate experts, the committee directly selected the environmental experts.

The expert panel will hold its first meeting on October 27 to review plans for preparing a deliberative questionnaire and information booklet for the citizen panel. The panel will offer its views based on these materials, and the deliberation committee plans to finalize them.

Rather than using a yes-or-no vote that asks participants to choose between expanding or reducing nuclear power, the deliberative questionnaire will ask specific questions about the role of nuclear power and its share of electricity generation. The aim is to ask citizens to assess an appropriate level by asking separately about the lower and upper limits for nuclear power’s share of electricity generation.

The committee also made clear that all discussions would be conducted on the premise of the national greenhouse gas reduction target and the First Basic Plan for Renewable Energy. The principle is not to frame questions in favor of a particular position or to presuppose an expansion or reduction of nuclear power.

Deliberation Committee Chair Eun Jaeho said, "It is regrettable that environmental groups have decided not to take part in this deliberation process. Balance in public deliberation is maintained through the fairness of the information provided to citizens and the discussions themselves. I will take responsibility for preparing deliberative materials and organizing discussions that do not lean toward either side. The door to public deliberation will remain open until the very end."

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