The government has decided to shut down the nation’s oldest nuclear reactor, the Kori No. 1 in Busan in 2017 after 37 years of commercial operation.

The 580-megawatt light water reactor began producing electricity in 1978, and its original 30-year lifetime was extended by 10 years until 2017.

The operator of the nuclear power plant, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, wanted to extend its operation for another 10 years, but the National Energy Commission agreed that the time had come to shut down the reactor.

The closure of the Kori No. 1 will have many implications for the nation, where 23 nuclear reactors account for about a third of its electricity supply and 11 more are or will soon be under construction.

Most of all, the impending shutdown of the Kori No. 1 means that now for Korea’s nuclear industry, decommissioning has become as important an issue as constructing and operating nuclear power plants in a safe and efficient way.

There are five more aging nuclear reactors whose 30-year lifetime will end by 2025, starting with the Kori No. 2 in 2023. This means decommissioning nuclear power plants will become a major segment of the Korean nuclear power industry.

Officials said it would take at least 15 years to decommission the Kori No. 1 nuclear power plant. It certainly is a complex administrative and technical process including cooling nuclear fuels, dismantling the reactor, cleaning up radioactive materials, management of nuclear waste and demolition of the plant.

This requires the government to work out flawless administrative and legal frameworks and the industry to develop decommissioning technology in order to ensure safe and efficient shutdown of the nuclear plants.

In view of the world-class level of the nation’s nuclear technology, Korea may well be in a good position to become a leader in the decommissioning sector as well.

This is meaningful because an estimated 420 nuclear reactors around the world ― in addition to 23 in the country ― are to be decommissioned by 2050. It obviously is a huge market.

The decision to close Kori No. 1, while awakening us to the importance of nuclear decommissioning, raises questions about the way major decisions are made regarding the use of nuclear power.

The KHNP and the nation’s nuclear watchdog said that there would be no problems extending the use of Kori No. 1 for another 10 years, citing scientific and technical examinations of the plant. The KHNP had already spent a huge sum of money on maintenance and repair in anticipation of a second extension of its lifetime.

But political pressure, especially from local councils and lawmakers from Busan, and protests from civilian activist groups and residents were too strong for the government and the KHNP to bear.

There is no doubt that the safety of nuclear power plants is not a thing that can be compromised under any circumstances. Koreans need to look no further than the devastating meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plants in neighboring Japan.

But concerns about safety, too, should be based on scientific and technical considerations. Vague worries and not-in-my-backyard sentiment must not sway major public works like the operation of nuclear power plants.

We emphasize this because for the time being, it will be inevitable for the nation to rely on nuclear power ― all the more so for the increasingly pressing need to cut back on carbon emissions ― which will no doubt face resistance, especially from politicians and residents in areas involved in nuclear facilities.