The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission again delayed its already long overdue decision on whether or not to allow the extension of the operation of the country’s second-oldest reactor.

The nuclear watchdog said its commissioners failed to reach an agreement in a meeting last week on the future of nuclear reactor unit 1 at Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

The 30-year design life of unit 1 began in 1982 and the 678-megawatt reactor began commercial operations the following year. Its operator, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., applied to extend its operations by 10 years in 2009, three years before its life span was to expire.

The application should have been dealt with within 18 months ― by June 2011 ― but the government failed to comply with the regulation, and the reactor was turned off in 2012 at the end of its original life span.

Any government decision ― whether to recommence the reactor or scrap it forever, which would be the first such case in the country ― would have immense effects, and it is understandable for the government to deal with the issue carefully.

Moreover, the 2011 disaster at Fukushima power plant in Japan reminded us that the foremost priority regarding nuclear energy is safety. The string of corruption scandals and safety glitches involving nuclear power plants, most recently cyberattacks on the KHNP, also have fueled public distrust of the nation’s nuclear power system.

But the growing public concerns about nuclear safety cannot justify the NSSC’s procrastination. It is just irresponsible if the commission ― already armed with a report of the state-run Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety that dismissed safety concerns about using the reactor for another 10 years ― is only buying time.

The NSSC’s inaction has already cost a lot. If it allows extension of Wolseong unit 1’s life span by 10 years, it would only have eight more years to go, as two years have already passed since its shutdown.

If it disapproves the extension, the nearly 600 billion won of taxpayers’ money the KHNC has spent to maintain, repair and replace equipment in anticipation of the extension of the reactor’s operations would go down the drain.

Korea now operates 23 nuclear reactors ― which account for about one-third of the nation’s electricity demand ― and the government will have to decide their future one by one in accordance with their life spans.

Most urgently, the government must make a decision by June on whether or not to re-extend the service of the nation’s oldest reactor ― Kori unit 1, whose life span had been extended by a decade to 2017.

The NSSC, by dragging its feet on Wolseong unit 1 for five long years, has set a bad precedent. The government should urge it to make a decision at its next meeting, scheduled for February. Besides, it should overhaul the current system for reviewing reactor extensions so that a decision can be made well before the end of each reactor’s life span expires.