CONSULTING

etween the two nations. 678 The new pact, signed on 25 June 2015, 679 called the “123 Agreement”
after Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act (AEA), replaces the existing 1974 agreement,
which was due to expire in 2014, but was extended, while negotiations continued. Major obstacles
to reaching agreement related to South Korean efforts to secure the right to develop the entire
fuel chain, in particular uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, both excluded from the
previous agreement. The agreement, does not include the right of South Korea to indigenous
development of enrichment or reprocessing, however, in a major concession, it does give the right
to export spent fuel for reprocessing, and specifically to France, under advance programmatic
approval. 680 The return of plutonium Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) would require case by case U.S.
approval. 681 Such a concession brings the agreement between the two nations on to a level with
the U.S. agreement with Japan prior to 1988. The new agreement, entered into force on
25 November 2015. 682
Taiwan operates three twin units at Chinshan (also spelled Jinshan), Kuosheng and
Maanshan, all owned by Taipower, the state-owned utility monopoly. Only five of the reactors
were connected to the grid in 2015 and generated 35.1 TWh, providing 16.3 percent of the
country’s electricity (compared with its maximum share of 41 percent in 1988).
The Chinshan-1 reactor failed to operate during the entire year 2015, and has therefore entered
the WNISR category of LTO. Originally shut down for refueling on 10 December 2014, inspections
of Chinshan-1 revealed a break in a connecting bolt in an AREVA-made Atrium-10 fuel assembly.
A safety evaluation report conducted by Taipower and AREVA was posted in June 2015 by the
Atomic Energy Council (AEC), which approved the reactor for restart, but lawmakers required the
issue to be addressed by the national parliament prior to restart. 683 As of 1 July 2016, the unit
remains offline.
Two General Electric 1300 MW Advanced Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR) had been listed as
“under construction” at Lungmen, near Taipei, since 1998 and 1999 respectively. Their
construction had been delayed multiple times. According to the Atomic Energy Council, as of the
678 WSJ, “U.S., South Korea Reach Revised Nuclear Deal The agreement stops short of allowing Seoul to
enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel”, 22 April 2015, see http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-southkorea-reach-revised-nuclear-deal-1429705290,
accessed 4 June 2015.
679 Korea Herald, “S. Korea, U.S. formally sign civil nuclear energy cooperation pact”, 16 June 2015, see
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_180943.html, accessed 30 June 2015
680 Mark Fitzpatrick, “South Korea nuclear cooperation deal not as simple as 123”, International Institute
for Strategic Studies (IISS), 23 April 2015, see
https://www.iiss.org/en/politics%20and%20strategy/blogsections/2015-932e/april-ea11/south-korea-nuclearcooperation-deal-not-as-simple-as-123-a371,
accessed 7 July 2016.
681 International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), “United States grants advance consents rights to Korea
for overseas reprocessing”, 25 June 2015, see
http://fissilematerials.org/blog/2015/06/united_states_grants_adva.html, accessed 9 July 2015.
682 Paul K. Kerr, Mary Beth D. Nikitin, “Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries: A Primer”,
Congressional Research Service, 3 December 2015 see https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22937.pdf,
accessed 1 July 2016.
683 NW, “Chinshan-1 might not restart until after September: lawmakers”, 2 July 2015.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 167 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016