Nuclear development of Korea

 

 South Korea has been developing its nuclear energy technology and has made remarkable improvements. Currently, one-third of South Korea’s electricity is provided by 26 reactors. In 1987, Korea’s state-run utility made its own design of a homegrown reactor by agreeing to technology transfer with US-based Combustion Engineering. As a result, 26 reactors were built and 4 reactors are on schedule. The first reactor export of Korea was to the United Arab Emirates and was announced in 2009. Unfortunately, Arab confronted delays and budget problems. However, Korea struggled to make further exports.

 

 As the nuclear energy policy differs by the preference and tendency of each president and his fellow, Korea’s nuclear energy development faced two opposite policies recently. The former president Moon Jae-in rejected the consistent development of nuclear energy, and conducted a policy that neglects nuclear energy completely over 45 years. However, the current president Yoon Suk-yeol set a new policy that encourages nuclear energy to provide a minimum of 30% of electricity by 2030. Jeremy Gordon, a consultant in the international energy field, positively evaluated Korea’s strategy by saying that “...their industry has the assurance of a government that is committed to nuclear, strategically, for energy security, economic and climate reasons, which gives the whole Koren nuclear ecosystem the confidence to invest.”

Indeed, the government is actively supporting nuclear energy development. With government support, State-owned Korea Hydro & Nuclear power Co. was chosen to build two multibillion-dollar reactors, which is the scale of 17.3 billion dollars in Czech. KHNP is a subsidiary which is in charge of the electric power and nuclear/hydroelectric plants in South Korea. As Europe decided to renounce fossil fuel and support nuclear energy, the success of this project will lead the Asian nation to be in a favorable position to also build reactors in Europe.

 

 Korea’s cost-competitiveness and strategy that has been conducted over decades allowed Korea to outpace competitor countries. Mark Nelson, managing director at Radiant Energy Group supported Korea by saying that “A nuclear plant is so much more than a reactor. It is civil engineering, it is blueprints, crane operators. And Korea has that.” He added that “They can offer the most competitive package.” The most competitive package refers to equipment, construction, maintenance, etc.

 

 To sum up, Korea has made an effort to develop its nuclear energy industry and finally got the chance to be in charge of the nuclear reactor project conducted in Czech. Like this, the constant advancement of Korea’s nuclear energy field will provide Korea with international power and competitiveness. Furthermore, as nuclear power has several problems such as the discard of radioactive waste, Korea also needs to focus on additional drawbacks and secure further preventive measures. The strategy dealing with these problems will give Korea not only international power and competitiveness but also strong liability and long-term safety. Through this process of development and improvement, Korea will be the leading country of nuclear technology.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Tae Yeon Kim (1-3)