South Korea's Nuclear Safety Regulatory Budget for 2027 Rises to KRW 303 Billion

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of South Korea announced on September 1 that it has allocated KRW 303 billion for the 2027 budget, an increase of KRW 10.4 billion from this year. The new budget focuses on areas such as small modular reactor regulation, spent nuclear fuel safety, nuclear facility decommissioning review, environmental radiation monitoring, and nuclear safety information disclosure.

NSSC

Regarding small modular reactors, as non-light water reactor-type small modular reactor development projects aim to obtain licenses by the early 2030s, South Korea will invest KRW 8 billion in R&D to establish a new safety evaluation system. In addition, in line with the preliminary review system set to take effect in November this year, the government has allocated KRW 2.7 billion to conduct preliminary reviews of non-light water reactor-type small modular reactors expected to file applications next year. This system allows applicants to request regulatory review of reactor designs before formally submitting license applications.

For the innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR) currently under development in South Korea, the budget also includes KRW 12.3 billion to develop safety verification technologies, preparing for full lifecycle regulation covering design, construction, operation, and decommissioning. The NSSC stated that it has established a division-level organization dedicated to small modular reactor regulation to address new regulatory demands, and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) will also add 10 new personnel related to small modular reactors.

Beyond small modular reactors, South Korea will also strengthen research support for future technologies such as artificial intelligence and nuclear fusion, and expand investment in large-scale nuclear safety regulatory R&D projects, including real-time power control during flexible operation of nuclear power units and nuclear facility decommissioning. The budget also includes KRW 70.5 billion for R&D, which covers research funding to ensure the safety of spent nuclear fuel storage and disposal.

To ensure the continued safe operation of nuclear power plants, the South Korean government will invest KRW 9.1 billion in safety reviews and has allocated budgets for major review and inspection items, including the decommissioning review of Wolsong Unit 1 and safety reviews of dry storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants. The periodic inspection system for nuclear power plants will be fully implemented next year, with the related budget set at KRW 7.7 billion, an increase of KRW 2.5 billion from this year.

In terms of information disclosure, the South Korean government has allocated KRW 4.8 billion to build a "Nuclear Safety Information Sharing Center" to strengthen the disclosure and dissemination of nuclear safety information to the public, particularly to residents near nuclear facilities. Next year, South Korea will operate a nuclear safety sharing portal equipped with AI-powered search functions and establish offline information sharing centers in Gochang, Hanul, and Daejeon, completing the layout of seven information sharing centers in total.

South Korea will also invest KRW 1.4 billion to build and operate a National Environmental Radiation Monitoring Center. The center will be located at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, with the goal of improving the quality of radionuclide analysis in samples collected domestically. At the same time, South Korea will strengthen the integration of currently dispersed environmental, atmospheric, and seawater radioactivity data, establish a comprehensive information system, and plan to gradually expand data disclosure, prioritizing information closely related to the daily lives of the public.

NSSC Chairman Choi Won-ho stated that the related budget aims to promptly respond to current and future safety regulatory issues, transparently disclose safety regulatory processes and results, and strengthen communication with the public.