SEOUL, January 21 (AJP) - A majority of South Koreans support building new nuclear power plants as electricity demand surges with the expansion of artificial intelligence, two public opinion polls showed, adding pressure on the government to reconsider its energy policy stance.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said on Wednesday it had conducted nationwide surveys last week on a new-reactor plan.
The ministry commissioned Korea Gallup and Realmeter to survey 1,519 and 1,505 respondents, respectively, using proportional allocation by gender, age and region.
In the Gallup poll, 69.6 percent of respondents said the plan to build new nuclear reactors should proceed, compared with 22.5 percent who said it should be halted. In the Realmeter survey, 61.9 percent supported moving ahead, while 30.8 percent opposed the plan.
Support for nuclear power more broadly was also strong. In the Gallup poll, 89.5 percent said nuclear power is necessary, while 82 percent said the same in the Realmeter poll. On safety, about 60 percent of respondents in both surveys said nuclear power is safe, outnumbering those who viewed it as dangerous.
When asked which power sources should be expanded, respondents most frequently cited renewable energy and nuclear power. In the Gallup poll, renewables ranked first at 48.9 percent, followed by nuclear at 38 percent and liquefied natural gas at 5.6 percent. In the Realmeter poll, renewables accounted for 43.1 percent and nuclear for 41.9 percent.
The results are expected to serve as a key reference as the government weighs whether to proceed with plans for two new large-scale reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs). Those plans were previously finalized but later put on hold after the government decided to reopen public deliberations.
Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan has said since taking office that the new-reactor plan would be reviewed “from scratch,” citing insufficient public input during the drafting of the Lee Jae Myung administration's electricity plan.
President Lee has previously expressed skepticism about expanding nuclear power, noting at a September news conference that nuclear plant construction typically takes more than 15 years and that suitable sites are limited. He has argued that solar and wind power, which can be built within one to two years, should be expanded on a large scale.
More recently, however, growing electricity demand from AI development has prompted renewed calls within and outside government for stable baseload power.
At a New Year’s news conference on Wednesday, Lee said that global trends point to “enormous energy demand” and acknowledged that renewable energy faces intermittency challenges. He said the government should keep an open mind and assess whether new reactors are needed, whether they are safe and what the public wants. A day earlier, he told a Cabinet meeting that public opinion “overwhelmingly” supports expanding nuclear power to address electricity supply concerns.
The ministry said it will review whether to pursue new nuclear construction by considering the poll results alongside policy discussions.
A ministry official said the government is examining “realistic” power supply options that take into account growth in advanced industries such as AI and semiconductors, as well as carbon-neutrality goals.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
