North Korea and Renewable Energy

Abstract

In his News Focus article “Nukes for windmills: quixotic or serious proposition?” (17 Sept., p. [1698][1]) (and the broader article on North Korean science, “A wary pas de deux,” 17 Sept., p. [1696][2]), R. Stone quotes an unofficial envoy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as suggesting that the DPRK would be willing to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for clean energy technologies. The desire of North Koreans for renewable small-scale energy systems is consistent with what we have learned in our contacts with DPRK researchers and engineers in the context of our North Korean wind power project ([1][3]). The key energy elements of the 1994 Agreed Framework between the United States and the DPRK—the two large (1 GW) light-water reactors (LWRs) and the 500,000 tonnes/year of heavy fuel oil that were to have been provided to the DPRK until the reactors were completed—were political compromises with severe practical drawbacks. The LWRs could not be operated safely without an interconnection to South Korea's grid, and the bottom-of-the-barrel, high-sulfur heavy fuel oil has reportedly accelerated degradation of an already dilapidated thermal power plant fleet ([2][4]). Small and mini hydroelectric systems are a good match to the DPRK's terrain and climate, and parts of the DPRK seem to have at least a fair wind resource. Renewable options put the focus on economic redevelopment on the local level, rather than on the less tractable national level. Renewable energy systems are not going to be enough by themselves to makeover the DPRK's energy sector in the near term, but can certainly contribute to the redevelopment of the DPRK energy infrastructure. They are also relatively resistant to diversion to military use and would engage a broad group of North Korean citizens with visitors from the outside as technological skills are transferred. 1. 1.[↵][5] 1. J. Williams, 2. P. Hayes, 3. C. Greacen, 4. D. Von Hippel, 5. M. Sagrillo , Bull. Atom. Sci. 55(no. 03), 40 (May/June 1999). [OpenUrl][6][CrossRef][7] 2. 2.[↵][8] 1. D. Von Hippel, 2. P. Hayes, 3. T. Savage, 4. M. Nakata , Modernizing the US-DPRK Agreed Framework: The Energy Imperative (Nautilus Institute Report, Nautilus Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2001) Discussions of the Agreed Framework and an analysis of the DPRK energy sector can be found in (available at ), and D. Von Hippel, P. Hayes, and T. Savage, The DPRK Energy Sector: Estimated Year 2000 Energy Balance and Suggested Approaches to Sectoral Redevelopment (Nautilus Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2003) (Nautilus Institute Report prepared for the Korea Energy Economics Institute). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.305.5691.1698 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.305.5691.1696b [3]: #ref-1 [4]: #ref-2 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DBull.%2BAtom.%2BSci.%26rft.volume%253D55%26rft.issue%253Dno.%2B03%26rft.spage%253D40%26rft.atitle%253DBULL%2BATOM%2BSCI%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.2968%252F055003014%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.2968/055003014&link_type=DOI [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2. in text