The recent selection of state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) as preferred bidder to build two reactors at the Dukovany NPP in the Czech Republic will rejuvenate the domestic nuclear industry, which struggled under the previous administration’s phase-out policy, South Korea’s Industry Minister, Ahn Duk-geun, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency,
If finalised, the deal, estimated at $17.3bn, will be South Korea’s first overseas NPP project since the KHNP won the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009.
“The local nuclear energy industry has been facing challenging times. I am pleased that we have secured an opportunity to fully normalise the ecosystem before it is too late,” Ahn said. “KHNP’s competing with EDF in Europe, its home turf, was like a battle between David and Goliath,” he added, noting that South Korea has fully emerged as “a major global player in the nuclear energy sector”.
He attributed the success to Korea’s proven track record of being “on time and on budget” in the UAE project and hoped the deal would bolster bids in other countries, including the UK and Turkey.
Ahn said the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s support for the nuclear industry had also contributed to South Korea’s winning the deal. “It would be unreasonable to seek to export nuclear reactors while maintaining the phase-out policy, as no country would want to purchase a discontinued product.”
Seoul’s proposal to step up cooperation in broader areas in the artificial intelligence sector and supply chain dialogue also sweetened the deal, he noted. “The Czech Republic also wishes to beef up its competitiveness in the artificial intelligence sector, and I believe South Korea was successful in addressing such aspects.”
Ahn said engaging in “excessively exhausting debate” over the nuclear energy is no longer relevant and it is time to harness the nuclear energy ecosystem to meet rising power demand from cutting-edge technologies.
He highlighted the role of nuclear power to meet South Korea’s carbon neutrality goal complementing less efficient renewable energy sources. “South Korea will not go against the global trend toward carbon neutrality, but using only renewable sources is deemed impossible considering the country’s geographical aspects,” he said.
