지역사회의 든든한 버팀목, 고리원자력본부의 상생 행보와 원전 해체라는 과제 > K-wave Trends

The 'Fence of Love' project promoted by Kori Nuclear Power Headquarters stands out for its determination to build a safety net for the local community beyond simple one-time financial support. The donation of 22 million won delivered this time will be delivered to 10 local children's centers in Gijang-gun through the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation and will be used to provide children with cultural experiences, emotional stability, and necessary supplies. This served as an opportunity to fill the gap in care that children from low-income families or vulnerable groups may experience, and to reaffirm the community value of raising children together as a community. Kori Headquarters has built emotional bonds with local children through scholarship programs, improved housing environments, and volunteer activities directly participated in by executives and employees, and these sincere actions suggest the desirable direction in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) should move.

In addition to social contribution activities, another axis that Kori Headquarters focuses on is a citizen participation campaign for national energy security. Ahead of the summer season, when electricity demand is concentrated, the labor and management of Gori Headquarters met with citizens in the Sajik Baseball Stadium area and encouraged them to practice energy conservation in their daily lives. Practical measures such as complying with the five-day driving schedule, using public transportation, maintaining appropriate temperatures in air conditioners, and blocking standby power are lifestyle rules that can have a more powerful practical effect than grandiose slogans. This campaign, in which labor and management took to the streets together, is evaluated as strengthening internal solidarity and conveying the message of 'energy security' to citizens in a friendlier and clearer way, urging energy producers and consumers to overcome the crisis together.

However, the management site of the Kori Nuclear Power Headquarters is filled with complex tasks that are at a different level from social coexistence. This is the problem of delays in the large-scale waste disposal service project surrounding the decommissioning of Kori Unit 1, Korea's first commercial nuclear power plant. This project, worth approximately 20 billion won, has received great attention from the industry, being called a 'prelude' to prove the technological prowess of the nuclear power plant decommissioning market, which will be worth hundreds of billions of won in the future. Even though KHNP selected the KEPCO KPS consortium as the preferred negotiating partner, the final contract is being delayed due to errors in submitted data and responsibility disputes within the consortium. This goes beyond simple administrative delays and demonstrates the fierce competition among companies trying to secure leadership in the nuclear power plant decommissioning market, which will begin in earnest in the future, and how rigorous the verification process is.

Nuclear power plant decommissioning is a very sensitive process that requires a high level of expertise and safety as it deals with facilities within a radiation control area. The Kori Unit 1 decommissioning project is a long-term project that will last until the mid-2030s, and a huge amount of budget and technology will be invested in each stage, from system decontamination to waste reduction and site restoration. Therefore, the noise in this waste disposal service is not simply a contract issue, but can be seen as a growing pain experienced in the process of setting standards for the future domestic nuclear power plant decommissioning industry and building technical reliability. As the ordering party, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power must maintain transparency and undergo thorough verification during the contract signing process, and participating companies must also maintain the basic principles of safety and regulatory compliance prior to the goal of securing technical performance.