Comparative Research on Nuclear Energy Policies in the Republic of Korea and Germany: The Influence of Demographic Factors, Local Acceptance, and Geopolitical Factors

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study compares the nuclear energy policies of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Germany and explains the reasons for the differences in their approaches. While citizens of both the ROK and Germany do not show significant differences in their perception of the efficiency of nuclear energy, there is a considerable difference in their attitudes towards the construction of nuclear power plants near their residences. Unlike Germany, which has pursued a nuclear phase-out policy since the late 1980s, the ROK halted its phase-out policy, which was implemented from 2017 to 2022, and decided to increase the share of nuclear energy in its national power generation from around 20% to 30%. This study finds that differences in the distribution of existing nuclear power plants and population between the ROK and Germany have greatly influenced citizens’ acceptance of hosting nuclear facilities. In the ROK, population and industry are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and a few large cities, while in Germany, the population is more evenly distributed, especially in the former West Germany. Additionally, while nuclear power plants in the ROK are concentrated along the coasts of the Yeongnam and Honam regions, Germany’s nuclear plants are evenly distributed near industrial areas in former West Germany. The ROK shows significant regional differences in local acceptance of nuclear power, leading to lower costs in negotiations for constructing nuclear facilities compared to Germany, where local acceptance does not vary as much across regions. Furthermore, Germany is geographically connected to neighboring countries via land, making it easier to integrate its electricity grid and cooperate on energy within the European Union (EU) framework. In contrast, the ROK is separated by seas from neighboring industrial nations, and the unstable geopolitical situation in Northeast Asia makes it difficult to directly import electricity from other countries. By analyzing these factors, this study explains why the ROK and Germany have taken completely different approaches to nuclear energy policy.

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