S.Korea survey backs restarting construction of 2 nuclear reactors (updated)

KEPCO Engineering & Construction Co

20/10/2017 03:41

* 59.5 pct in favour of construction, 40.5 against - survey 
    * Organising committee recommends gov't resume construction 
    * Presidential office says it respects results 
    * Shares of KEPCO jump nearly 6 pct after announcement 
 
 (Adds presidential office response, details, background) 
    By Jane Chung 
    SEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A South Korean 
government-organised committee is recommending Seoul resume the 
stalled construction of two new nuclear reactors after an 
opinion survey it set up found nearly 60 percent of respondents 
said they were in favour of the move.  
    The two reactor projects were temporarily halted late in 
June after the government said it would let South Koreans decide 
and reflect their opinions in energy policy direction amid 
concerns over atomic safety. The suspension was one of the newly 
elected President Moon Jae-in's key campaign pledges in efforts 
to allay public concerns over safety.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JO2KT  
    "Our final public opinion survey showed 59.5 percent of 
(responding) South Koreans chose to resume the construction," 
Kim Ji-hyung, chairman of the committee, told a news conference 
on Friday. Stability of power supply was cited as a prime reason 
for the choice in survey responses, the committee said. 
    "Our recommendation to the government is restarting 
construction," Kim said. 
    The committee conducted four rounds of surveys including 
phone interviews of 20,006 people, and public debates with some 
470 citizens for the past three months. The results had a margin 
of error plus or minus of 3.6 percent. 
    The two 1,400-megawatt (MW) reactors - Shin Kori No.5 and 
Shin No.6 - were originally scheduled to be built by March 2021 
and March 2022 respectively in the southeastern city of Ulsan. 
    South Korea's presidential office said on Friday it 
respected the results of a public opinion survey and would 
pursue future steps without delay.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1MV1DL 
     Shares of state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp 
(KEPCO)  015760.KS  5.6 percent following the announcement, 
while KEPCO Engineering & Construction  052690.KS  and KEPCO 
Plant Service & Engineering  051600.KS  surged as much as 20 
percent and 10 percent respectively. 
     
 
 (Reporting by Jane Chung; Additional reporting by Dahee Kim; 
Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) 
 ((jane.chung@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5667; Reuters 
Messaging: jane.chung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA NUCLEAR/