A nuclear plant in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

Korea should take into account a recent move by the European Commission (EC) to recognize nuclear and natural gas as green energy sources, a private state think tank said Sunday, highlighting the need to renounce the nuclear phase-out policy spearheaded by the Moon Jae-in administration.

The Korea Economic Research Institute's (KERI) recommendation fans criticisms that Korea has been railroading the anti-nuclear policy for years, with the issue increasingly being reduced to a tool for political attacks at the expense of energy security.

Chief among the factors anchoring the critical voices is soaring energy costs, tied closely to living expenses surging due to rising inflation brought on by pandemic-induced liquidity.

Few say the carbon-neutrality initiative will be feasible without nuclear power, an affordable, stable source of energy, as evidenced by the leaders of the EC seeking to embrace the much-demonized power source for the time being. The move gained rapid traction due to the energy crisis triggered by an unstable supply of renewables and natural gas this winter.

The think tank said Korea should revise the K-Taxonomy, the Korean version of the European Union Taxonomy, a set of guidelines for green, sustainable investments to meet climate goals including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU announced its plan Feb. 2 (local time) to classify natural gas and nuclear power as green investments, despite fierce protests from Germany and four other nations.

This, according to the think tank, shows the EU countries essentially acknowledging that the use of nuclear power and natural gas remains essential for the time being.

"Unstable wind and natural gas supply threatened the energy security in the EU last year. The European bloc's internal market commissioner Thierry Breton even said the EU will need to invest 500 billion euros ($568 billion) in building nuclear power stations until 2050 to draw new capital. Korea should revise the K-Taxonomy to include nuclear energy as part of green investment to sustain investment momentum," the think tank said.

The country will be the odd one out in the global wave of a green drive backed in large part by nuclear power, it warned.

"The U.S. and China already made it clear that their energy policies will be propped up by nuclear power generation. Korea should not buck the global move due to political reasons," KERI said.