If not nuclear power, then what?

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement announced last week the results of an accident simulation at Gori Nuclear Power Plant. The shocking results, however, contain groundless information. According to the simulation conducted by professor Park Seung-joon at Kwansei Gakuin University of Japan, a major accident at the Gori reactor could cause 48,000 deaths instantly and 850,000 more from cancer as well as up to 682 trillion won in damage if winds blow toward the direction of Busan, Korea`s second-largest city. The results are from a simulation based on a hypothetical situation that is impossible at a nuclear power plant in Korea. The claim is as groundless as previous rumors on mad cow disease that suggested that those eating American beef would die from sponge-form holes in the brain.

Gori Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 is undergoing a safety checkup while operating beyond its normal lifespan, but its reactor differs from those of the Chernobyl and Fukushima plants and has a sturdy building housing the reactor. The scenario for the simulation repeatedly used an impractical situation that all nuclear fuel in the reactor was melted. Direct deaths due to exposure to radioactive materials at the Chernobyl accident, the world`s worst nuclear disaster, numbered just 28. In the Fukushima meltdown, a number of people died while working at the disaster site, but instant deaths due to radioactive materials have not been reported.

Nuclear energy is not 100-percent safe, and fears over safety have been mounting in the wake of the Fukushima accident last year. Under this circumstance, the action by the environmental group to estimate potential damage and risks from a nuclear meltdown is positive to a certain extent. But information on risks must be based solely on empirical evidence and rational assumptions. Fueling fears under an irrational hypothetical scenario could fuel anxiety among the public and cause wrong judgments of the situation.

The peak summer season has yet to come to Korea, but alarms have been set off over a potential power shortage due to excessive electricity consumption. A string of passengers have reportedly caught colds in subway cars that pump up air conditioning, which is seriously wrong. Subways are heavy consumers of electricity at 23 kilowatts per car. Certain passengers cannot stand small inconveniences and warm temperatures, and thus demand that operators maintain low in-car temperatures. This has led to subway cars using excessive air conditioning. Do these people jack up the air conditioners in their own homes? The Korean people need a more mature understanding of energy conservation.

A well-known fact is that nuclear power is probably the only option available to Korea to ensure stable power supply since the country does not produce a single drop of crude oil. In Japan, which entered a "nuclear reactor-free era" in May 2011, people have joined a national campaign on energy conservation by refraining from using electric rice cookers and washing machines, let alone air conditioners. To compensate for higher fuel costs resulting from complete dependence on thermal power plants in lieu of nuclear reactors, Japan raised electric utility rates as much as 17 percent early this year. But analysts say a higher increase is needed. Those who do not conserve electricity yet oppose higher utility rates and nuclear plants in Korea should then suggest alternatives to the problem.