The state nuclear authority rushed to decommission South Korea’s oldest nuclear reactor Wolseong 1 after questionable underestimation of its economic value, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced Tuesday, concluding a year-long inspection, but fell short of declaring fault in the shuttering move made two years ago.

The government watchdog agency said the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) was aware that an outside consulting firm underreported the value of the reactor, but did not correct it when it submitted for board review on the reactor’s fate.

Officials at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy were also involved in the process, the watchdog said.

The BAI however fell short of outright declaring fault in the decision, claiming issues of “safety and “residential admission” were beyond its assessment ability.

It claimed its review was on whether the decision had validity in economic perspective.

An ambiguous result was predictable as the independent agency has been stalling the announcement of the findings in the inspection that was launched a year ago as it can pose a political burden to the administration of President Moon Jae-in who has been shuttering aged reactors and cancelling construction of new ones to phase out of nuclear fuel. Moon stuck by the campaign promise despite the impact on the economy and industry from the loss of cheap fuel and reactor technology that is one of the world’s best.

The audit was launched at the urging by the opposition party after numerous testimonies about the rashness and wrongdoings behind the sudden decision to unplug the Wolseong 1 unit two years before its legitimate life time of 2022 was up after repair and upscaling work at a cost of 700 billion won.

Wolseong 1 reactor’s original life span of 30 years ended on November 2012. Since it is common to extend a reactor’s life, the KHNP invested 700 billion won and expanded the life span by another 10 years. The extension came as the KHNP in its independent analysis at the time found the reactor had a value of 4 trillion won.

Wolseong 1 reactor resumed operations in June 2015, but was shut down two years following a decision by KHNP board.

The BAI looked into suspicions that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KHNP officials manipulated economic viability evaluation to adhere to President Moon Jae-in’s nuclear phase-out policy. On Tuesday, however, it did not take any disciplinary actions on officials that were under inspection target.

By Ahn Jeong-hoon and Lee Eun-joo

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