South Korea will actively use nuclear energy to achieve carbon neutrality and as a tool for national energy security, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday. 
 
Speaking at an online climate conference hosted by US President Joe Biden on Monday, Han duck-soo said South Korea would develop a plan to combine nuclear and renewable energy to become carbon neutral, Yonhap news agency reported.  The government will also expand investment in small nuclear power projects such as small modular reactors (SMR). 
 
Under former President Moon Jae-in, the South Korean government set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2018 levels by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. 
 
The Moon Jae-in administration has delayed the construction and operation of several nuclear power plants by pursuing a policy of "dismantling nuclear power."  South Korea's new president Yoon Seok-yeol plans to restart the construction of Shinhanul no. 3 and No. 4 nuclear power plants as he seeks to reverse the country's "de-nuclearizing" policy and put nuclear power at the core of energy production amid a global power supply crunch caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the outbreak of conflict between Russia and Ukraine.  Han Byeong-seop, director of the Korea Nuclear Safety Research Institute, said that the Yoon seok-yeol administration should push ahead with the nuclear power policy on the basis of ensuring safety, so as not to increase public distrust of nuclear power plants.