In the parliamentary audit inspection on Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) on Oct. 18, the ruling and opposition parties waged a battle over the Moon Jae-in government's nuclear phase-out policy, including the early closure of the Wolseong nuclear power plant unit 1.
The report on unit price analysis by the KHNP Central Research Institute was a major source of the dispute. The report predicted out that the 8th basic power supply plan, which reflects the nuclear phase-out policy, will increase the average power generation unit price to 258.97 won per kWh in 2030.
The figure is 157.66 won higher than the production unit price (101.31 won/kWh) this year, and 97.17 won higher than the forecast for the seventh supply and demand plan, which does not include the nuclear phase-out policy.
Rep. Kim Kyu-whan of the Liberty Korea Party said, "This report was not released. It seems that there was external pressure from the relevant department to prevent the publication of the book."
Regarding this, Chung Jae-hoon, president of KHNP, refuted, "Some 174 trillion won was added as the professor who wrote the report mistakenly calculated the size of investment in the new & renewable power generation unit price. We did not disclose the research to the public because it was of no value."
Meanwhile, Rep. Kwak Dae-hoon of the Liberty Korea Party, said, "Solar mafia is emerging in the area where the atomic power plant mafia has disappeared. And many left-wing organizations began to covet taxpayers' money."
