The Need to Sanction “Pyroprocessing” in the ROK–U.S. Nuclear Energy Agreement

The first round of bilateral negotiations to revise the ROK–U.S. nuclear energy agreement will kick off in Washington on Oct. 25. These negotiations will re-examine and seek to modify the 40-year term limit of a pact between the two countries that has been in effect since 1974. The current terms of the agreement prohibit South Korea from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, although Korean nuclear waste storage facilities are close to maximum capacity. Needless to say, rehashing the agreement to resolve this pressing situation is of the utmost importance.

Independent of the current negotiations, the South Korean government has sought to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to sanction joint research on “pyroprocessing,” a dry reprocessing method that disposes of nuclear waste. Despite what international efforts to restrain North Korean nuclear activity may indicate, negotiating to allow for reprocessing in South Korea is not entirely impossible. That is not to say that achieving the desired objective will be easy amid the nuclear controversy.

Nonetheless, first confirming the scientific and economic feasibility of pyroprocessing through a joint study with the U.S. will help to settle many of the concerns that surround the issue. Efforts should be made to lift the ban on pyroprocessing through whatever means possible. This is a particularly urgent matter, as South Korea has already accumulated over 10,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel, with all remaining viable storage space projected to run out by 2016. The Korean government must do everything in its capacity to ensure that the U.S. fully understands this dilemma. The U.S. also needs to grasp just how big of a disadvantage it is for South Korea to be the only one of six nuclear exporter countries (including Japan) that is prohibited from nuclear reprocessing.

The joint statement from last July’s ROK–U.S. Foreign and Defense Ministers’ Meeting stipulated that the two countries would strive to come to a new accord on nuclear energy. If a tangible result is not achieved this time around, it is unclear when the next such opportunity will come.