韓國核電發展的成就與挑戰

South Korea’s Nuclear Power Development: Achievements and Challenges

韓國是全世界核能開發最成功的國家之一。僅僅半個世紀的時間，便從一個極度落後且貧窮的國家，蛻變成為核電大國。今日的韓國不僅是全球第五大核電產出國，還擁有自主且先進的核電技術。韓國的核電之路，獨樹一幟，令人稱奇。他山之石，可以攻錯。韓國的核電經驗，堪為其他擁有核電或有意發展核電的國家之借鏡。雖然以往韓國政府過度追求經濟效益的作法，忽略了核電開發的社會成本，造成國內反核聲浪不斷。自2017年就職以來的的文在寅（Moon Jae-in）總統，更一直倡導擺脫核電。但本文以為，現任政府廢除核電的主張可視為一項長期的政治口號，政策的重點更傾向於「能源轉型」而不是「無核化」。隨著2022年3月10日新總統當選人尹錫悅（Yoon Suk-yeol）的勝出，在經濟與環境的考量下，韓國仍將持續發展核電。一度流失的民眾信任，也可望恢復。

South Korea has been considered to have one of the most successful civil nuclear power programs in the world. It spent merely half a century transforming from a less developed country into a prominent nuclear energy country. Today, South Korea is not only the fifth largest producer of nuclear power, but also possesses independent and advanced technology. South Korea’s performance and experience are remarkable and encouraging, it can serve as a reference for other countries that have nuclear power or are interested in developing nuclear power. Although the anti-nuclear wave grew as prior policy focused primarily on economic profits and ignored the social cost that came with developing nuclear energy, plus President Moon Jae-in has championed breaking away from nuclear energy since his inauguration in 2017, this article argues that the current government’s policy of phasing-out nuclear power can be regarded as a long-term political slogan, and the goal of the policy is more inclined to ''energy transition'' rather than ''denuclearization.'' With the victory of the new president-elect, Yoon Suk-yeol on March 10, 2022, South Korea will continue to retain nuclear energy in the future, given economic and environmental considerations. Public trust and support can also be restored.