The Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Waste Management Act Article 9

Even after the completion of construction of production (and/)or storage facilities of nuclear source material (and/)or nuclear fuel, the facilities shall not be formally operated, until the competent authorities have inspected the construction engineering and qualified the pre-operation thereof, and have issued an operation license therefor.Before the issuance of the operation license for production (and/)or storage facilities of nuclear source material (and/)or nuclear fuel, the competent authorities shall verify that an approval from the domestic or foreign final disposal facilities for storage of radioactive waste, or a contract for handling the same on an agency basis has been obtained.The valid period of the license referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article is forty (40) years at longest, and when there is need to continue operation after the license is expired, an application shall be filed two (2) years prior to expiration thereof with the competent authorities for renewing the license thereof. The operation thereof shall not be continued without the renewal of license as per the prescription.Paragraph 1 of the preceding Article is applicable, mutatis mutandis, to the issuance and(/or) the renewal of an operation license; Paragraph 2 (of the preceding Article) is also applicable, mutatis mutandis, to the renewal of an operation license.