Building plants builds support in South Korea
Support for the nuclear power industry is rising in South Korea following the country's successful bid to construct four APR1400 reactors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The JoonAng Daily quotes a survey from the Korean Nuclear Energy Foundation, a research body of the Knowledge Economy Ministry, to report that 88.4% of a survey of 800 Koreans said that the development of the nuclear industry is necessary, while 61.1% are in favour of constructing more reactors in South Korea and 31.1% would not oppose a plant being built near where they live.
An earlier poll taken before the UAE deal showed that 84.6% of respondents thought that the nuclear energy industry is necessary, 54.6% were in favour of more reactors and 26.4% were accepting of plants in their neighbourhood.
The Korean Knowledge Economy Ministry commented: "The recent survey shows that exporting nuclear power plants is not only beneficial to the Korean economy, but it also raises the interest and trust of the Korean public in the overall nuclear industry."
"Korea's nuclear power export industry should be seen as a net growth engine and the government will continue to promote awareness among the public."
Despite this, some public concerns obviously remain; the current survey also revealed that only 53.6% of respondents thought that radioactive materials were being safely stored.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
.jpg)
