"In Wartime, Nuclear Power Plants Become Targets" – 100,000 Ulsan Residents Launch Petition Against New Reactors

The committee announced that, in response to the resolutions, it will launch a petition campaign to collect 100,000 signatures from residents of Ulsan Metropolitan City. (Photo provided by the Ulsan Citizens' Countermeasure Committee Against New Nuclear Power Plants) As the Ulju County Council, followed by the Ulsan Metropolitan Council, adopted resolutions calling for the hosting of new nuclear power plants, the Ulsan Citizens' Countermeasure Committee Against New Nuclear Power Plants (hereinafter the committee) has launched a campaign to collect 100,000 signatures from citizens of Ulsan Metropolitan City in opposition.
The Financial News Ulsan bureau reported this on the 24th. The committee held a press conference at the Ulsan City Hall press center on the 24th to denounce the Ulsan Metropolitan Council and announced the campaign.
On the 19th, the Ulsan Metropolitan Council passed, in its original form at a plenary session, a resolution titled "Resolution Calling for the Hosting of Saeul Nuclear Power Plant Units 5 and 6 in Ulsan. " The resolution urges the central government to swiftly designate Seosaeng-myeon, Ulju County, Ulsan as the construction site for new large-scale nuclear reactors and to ensure that construction begins without delay.
In response, the committee condemned both the Ulju County Council and the Ulsan Metropolitan Council for adopting resolutions to attract nuclear power plants. It argued that the councils pushed the resolutions through without proper review of key safety issues, including the risk of aircraft crashes and earthquakes, the stability of power grid connections in the event of fires, and the storage of spent nuclear fuel.
The committee also asserted that, as the climate crisis accelerates, the risk of accidents is clearly rising due to stronger typhoons, heavier downpours, more frequent fires, and rising sea temperatures. It further noted that, as seen in the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Iran War, nuclear facilities have increasingly become targets in modern warfare, where armed conflicts are occurring more frequently.
The committee submitted a written opinion opposing the project to Ulju County and Ulsan Metropolitan City on the same day. The document details concerns over local acceptance, the suitability of the proposed site, and the additional risks posed by building more reactors in what is already the world's most densely concentrated nuclear power region.
A representative of the committee stated, "Within a 30-kilometer radius of Ulsan City Hall, there are 16 nuclear reactors.
Within this area are the Onsan National Industrial Complex, where petrochemical plants such as S-Oil and Korea Petrochemical are clustered, the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex, which hosts key national industries, and more than one million residents," adding, "It is extremely inappropriate to build two additional nuclear reactors in such an area.
" The committee is led primarily by Ulsan Citizens' Action for Nuclear Phase-out and Ulsan Climate Crisis Emergency Action.
In addition to environmental groups, a wide range of civil society organizations in Ulsan Metropolitan City are participating, including groups from the political, religious, medical, education, labor, women's, and human rights sectors.
The committee announced that, in response to the resolutions, it will launch a petition campaign to collect 100,000 signatures from residents of Ulsan Metropolitan City. (Photo provided by the Ulsan Citizens' Countermeasure Committee Against New Nuclear Power Plants) As the Ulju County Council, followed by the Ulsan Metropolitan Council, adopted resolutions calling for the hosting of new nuclear power plants, the Ulsan Citizens' Countermeasure Committee Against New Nuclear Power Plants (hereinafter the committee) has launched a campaign to collect 100,000 signatures from citizens of Ulsan Metropolitan City in opposition.
ulsan@fnnews.com Choi Su-sang Reporter