en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) announced on May 18 that the "Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning" standard proposal, submitted by South Korea to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in June 2023, was finally approved as a New Work Item Proposal (NP) after more than three years of discussion by the technical committee (TC 85, Nuclear Energy), with approval from nine member countries including the United States, China, and Japan. This is also the first such proposal globally.
According to KATS, the approved draft standard contains general requirements applicable to the entire process, covering everything from terminology definitions to planning, implementation, and management. South Korea, as the project lead country, played a leading role in the standard development process. The draft will solicit comments from various countries starting May 19, with the goal of being established as an International Standard (IS) by December 2027.
Furthermore, KATS plans to develop nine international standards in phases, covering detailed technologies required during the decommissioning process such as radioactive decontamination, facility and component dismantling, waste management, and site restoration. These specifically include: nuclear power plant decommissioning planning, radioactive waste management, facility characterization, safety assessment, decommissioning work management, radioactive decontamination and dismantling, radiation protection and monitoring, release criteria application, and site restoration. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plan to participate in this standardization work to enhance its consistency with international nuclear safety standards.
According to IAEA data, more than 400 nuclear power plants worldwide will be decommissioned by 2050, with an estimated cost exceeding 500 trillion won. KATS President Kim Dae-ja stated that the development of this standard marks an important step for South Korea in leading international standards in the field of nuclear power plant decommissioning, and that it will take the lead in establishing de facto industry standards through organizations such as ISO and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to enhance the export competitiveness of South Korea's nuclear power industry.
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