While others are using 50-year-old nuclear power plants for another 30 years… The Moon government also shuts down healthy nuclear power plants.

The Netherlands, which had neglected nuclear power generation in its electricity supply and demand policy, has changed. In addition to the construction of additional nuclear power plants, we are also seeking a second continued operation of existing nuclear power plants that have already decided to continue operation once. The explanation is that the price of natural gas, a major source of power generation, has risen sharply due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and to prepare for the volatility of new and renewable energy.

The Dutch Ministry of Economy and Climate Policy is pushing for a law amendment to allow the Borsel Nuclear Power Plant (KCB), which is scheduled to cease operation in 2033, to operate for up to 20 more years. KCB, with a facility capacity of 485 MW (megawatts), began commercial operation in 1973 and decided in 2013 to extend the operation period for 20 years until 2033 for the first phase of continuous operation.

KCB produces approximately 4% of the total energy generation in the Netherlands. Looking at last year’s Dutch electricity production of 118.38 billion kWh (kilowatt hours) by energy source, KCB’s share was only 3.3% of the total. Natural gas ranked first with the largest proportion at 39.6%, and wind power generation, which combines onshore (11.1%) and offshore (6.8%), ranked second, accounting for 17.9% of the total. Solar energy ranked third with a 14.9% share.

A Dutch government official explained, “We are pursuing a plan to increase two additional nuclear power plants with an installed capacity of 1,000 MW or more by 2035 to increase the share of the Netherlands’ electricity supply and demand plan to 13% at the time of operation.” He added, “KCB’s continued operation is also in the same context.” .

The reason behind the Dutch government’s decision to expand nuclear power is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 while obtaining high-quality electricity economically and stably. In the Netherlands, which depended on gas for about 40% of its total power generation, electricity rates rose unrivaled in Europe as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued. In fact, Dutch electricity rates rose 210% from January 2021 to the end of last year. The rise was particularly steep compared to the 165% increase in Italy, 140% in the UK, and 83% in Germany over the same period.

Considering the risk of low-scale earthquakes, the decision to gradually stop mining the Groningen gas field, the largest natural gas field in Europe, and completely close it by 2030 also had an impact. A Dutch government official said, “We are pushing to expand the role of nuclear power generation as well as offshore wind power to secure energy sources that do not emit carbon dioxide.” He added, “We believe that nuclear power generation is advantageous in securing high-quality power because it has less seasonal volatility than solar or wind power generation.” “I did it,” he said.

On the other hand, Korea has been struggling since its plan to nearly double the proportion of new and renewable power generation from 11.7% to 20% by 2030 starting in 2017, right after the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration. At the time, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy knew that if renewable energy generation was expanded at this rate, electricity rates would have to rise by 39.6% by 2030, but underreported that electricity rates would rise by only 10.9% over 12 years due to pressure from the Blue House, a recent audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection revealed.