Kori-1: how South Korea's first commercial reactor decommissioning is actually going

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 13:00:00 +0900

On the coast of Gijang County, at the eastern edge of Busan, a 587 MW (gross) Westinghouse pressurized-water reactor that made electricity for 39 years is being taken apart. Kori-1 began commercial operation in April 1978 as South Korea’s first commercial nuclear power plant, was permanently shut down in June 2017, and in June 2025 became the first Korean reactor to receive a decommissioning approval. In November 2025 the first contractors moved in.

Kori-1 on EnergyNote

Kori-1: how South Korea's first commercial reactor decommissioning is actually going