Evaluation of the national nuclear energy R&D projects in Korea: Multi-attribute utility analysis

The Korean government has selected nuclear energy as the major source of electricity generation in Korea because of the lack of domestic energy resources. Thus, nuclear energy has become an increasingly vital part of resources for national development. The national nuclear energy R&D projects have been implemented for ensuring a safe and stable supply of nuclear energy in Korea since 1992. Evaluation of the national nuclear energy R&D projects has critical importance in the aspect of nuclear energy management. This paper employs multi-attribute utility analysis as a basis for obtaining an index to evaluate the national nuclear energy R&D projects using a specific case study of Korea. To structure and quantify basic values for the evaluation, we elicited important attributes, then refined and structured them into a hierarchy. A multi-attribute index is constructed as a multi-attribute utility function, based on value judgments provided by a group of technical researchers, policy analysts, faculties, and government officers. The implications of the results are also discussed. We found that the work and results of this study can provide valuable insights and decision opportunities for virtually all major decision-making in assessment of the national nuclear energy R&D projects in Korea.