05-08-2011 16:48
By Kim Se-jeong ULAANBAATAR ― The Mongolian government is striving to build a nuclear power plant, and Seoul National University is involved in laying the groundwork. The Nuclear Transmutation Energy Research Center of Korea (NTERCK), together with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of Mongolia, organized a 10-day conference on nuclear power infrastructure development in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the landlocked country. The conference will close Tuesday. This year’s gathering is the second of its kind, following the first in 2009. The initial conference planted a seed for signing a bilateral memorandum of understanding on human resources development cooperation in the field of nuclear energy in March this year during Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaataryn Batbold’s visit to Seoul. Professor Hwang Il-soon, the head of the NTERCK, said Mongolia’s decision to develop nuclear energy means a lot for the country, which has waged a robust drive to develop its economy in recent years. Chadraa Baatar, head of the government project on nuclear energy, said a sufficient supply of energy will be vital for the drive, and no other source could be as sustainable and affordable as the nuclear option. The accident at the Fukushima plant in Japan raised concerns for Mongolia, but it did little to completely discourage the government’s will to build a nuclear power plant, he said. “We have to develop our economy, and nuclear energy is necessary,” he told The Korea Times. A nuclear power plant site in Fukushima was shut down in the aftermath of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami in March which hit the reactors causing radiation leaks. Hwang said the Fukushima incident raised concerns among the public, yet fended off worries on nuclear energy, insisting that the topic got blown out of proportion, fed by opponents. At the conference, experts on nuclear energy research, construction of power plants, safety and regulations and international cooperation from Korea gave an overview on the development of nuclear energy. One appealing factor for Mongolia’s nuclear energy drive was the discovery of uranium deposits. Experts from the Soviet Union discovered the deposits in the 1970s, and an exploration will start from as early as next year in partnership with French and Chinese companies. Mongolia’s strive for nuclear energy began with establishment of the NEA in 2008, one year after the parliament passed State Policy on the Exploitation of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Energy Law. Building a nuclear power plant is a time-consuming project, and it will take a few decades to see a power plant up and running in Mongolia. Now, the goal is to finish the legal and regulatory framework by 2021, and to meet 33 percent of its energy need through nuclear power plants by 2035. It will reduce the proportion of electricity generated from thermal power plants to 55 percent. Mongolia’s economy runs on coal. More than 80 percent of its electricity comes from thermal power plants. Yet, as Bataar noted, the fossil fuel makes policy makers have second thoughts, as it causes serious air pollution in Ulaanbaatar and the desertification of the country. Opposition to nuclear energy comes from the mining sector, which fears shrinking business and the social democratic party in parliament that advocates going green, said R. Oyun, head of the international cooperation department at the NEA. But the opposition is not likely to pose a problem as the need for alternative energy prevails, she said. | |
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