South Korean Environmental Groups to Hold Nuclear Safety Seminar, Focusing on SMR Regulatory Independence and Institutional Gaps

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement recently announced that it will hold a session of the "Continuous Nuclear Safety Seminar Series · Safety Regulation Domain" at 10:00 a.m. on August 21, 2026, in Conference Room 8 of the National Assembly Members' Office Building, under the theme "Moving Beyond Promotion-Centered Nuclear Policy Toward an Independent Safety Regulatory System." The event is hosted by National Assembly member Lee Ju-hee and co-organized by the Citizens' Institute for Environmental Studies and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, aiming to discuss structural issues in South Korea's nuclear safety regulatory system.

According to available information, the South Korean government is accelerating the research and development, industrial support, and commercialization of small modular reactors (SMRs), with the i-SMR standard design approval application already accepted and the Special Act on SMR Development Promotion scheduled to take effect in September. The organizers believe that while technological development and industrialization are clearly accelerating, whether a safety regulatory system capable of independently reviewing and effectively checking related projects is in place remains an important issue that requires public discussion.

The seminar will feature two keynote presentations, covering respectively the structural problems of South Korea's domestic nuclear safety regulatory system and directions for improving the legal framework, as well as SMR legal safety standards, regulatory system gaps, and legislative tasks. The speakers include Jin Jae-yong, a member of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and attorney, and Yu Esther, an activist from the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement. The session will be moderated by Kim Hye-jung, former chair of the Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety and standing director of the Citizens' Institute for Environmental Studies.

The designated discussion segment will cover multiple dimensions, including directions for improving the nuclear safety regulatory system, cumulative risks in areas with dense concentrations of nuclear power plants, regulatory information disclosure and public communication issues, measures to ensure SMR safety, SMR radiological emergency preparedness plans and information disclosure mechanisms, and the establishment of legal safety standards and regulatory systems tailored to SMR design characteristics. Participating institutions and individuals include the Korea Legislation Research Institute, the Citizens' Action for a Nuclear-Free Gyeongju, law firms, the Innovative Small Modular Reactor Technology Development Project Group, the SMR Business Office of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and officials from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

Judging from the agenda, this seminar is not merely a discussion of SMR technology itself, but rather focuses on the regulatory conditions, legal foundations, and public safety guarantees behind technological promotion. As South Korea's nuclear energy policy continues to lean toward new reactor types and industrial support, environmental groups and relevant experts hope that through parliamentary discussions, nuclear safety regulation can maintain its independence from the "industry promotion" policy framework, and place resident safety, information transparency, and institutional accountability in a more central position.