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South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said today that his government would work to convince the United States to permit it to use nuclear fuel reprocessing technology for the nation's growing atomic energy sector, the Korea Herald reported (see GSN, Jan. 28).
"Korea plans to develop advanced technology on establishing a nuclear fuel cycle so that the country could recycle spent atomic fuel for energy use and to reduce high-level radioactive waste," Chung said at a Seoul summit on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Under a 1974 atomic trade agreement with Washington, South Korea must receive U.S. permission to reprocess used nuclear fuel. Reprocessing technology can be used for civilian atomic energy purposes or to produce weapon-grade nuclear material. When the pact expires in 2014, Seoul wants any replacement accord to permit the use of the technology.
Seoul intends to establish another 18 nuclear reactors by 2030 so that 59 percent of the nation's energy needs would be provided through atomic means (Cho Chung-un, Korea Herald, March 12).