CLEAN GREEN GLOW IN THE DARK

South Korea, U.S. agree to joint entry into third-country nuclear power market

Posted May. 24, 2021 


South Korea and the United States have agreed to jointly expand into the nuclear power market in third countries such as the Middle East and Europe. 

The U.S., which has strengths in technologies such as nuclear power plant design, and South Korea, which has excellent nuclear power plant construction capabilities, are likely to hold hands, which will also provide momentum for nuclear power plant exports.

 The nuclear industry welcomed the cooperation of South Korea and the United States in the nuclear industry, but there are concerns that the moon jae-in government's policy of denuclearization and the nuclear power plant export business are contradictory.

President Moon and U.S. President Donald Biden, who visited the United States, said in a joint statement Thursday that they had "agreed to strengthen cooperation in overseas nuclear power markets, including joint participation in nuclear power plants," according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and  Resources. 

Based on this agreement, discussions on nuclear industry cooperation between the two companies are expected to materialize. In particular, the United States is strengthening international cooperation to restrain China and Russia, which are expanding new nuclear power plants, and is expected to help South Korean companies expand their overseas nuclear power plants. 

The two countries also agreed to set the conditions for the conclusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol when exporting nuclear power plants to third countries. The additional protocol includes strengthening the IAEA's inspection powers for undecoded nuclear sites, which are not signed by some states, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia.

With this agreement, we expect that the nuclear power plant export business, which has been slow to advance in the nuclear power industry, will become lively
again. 

However, it is often pointed out that nuclear power export cooperation with the United States is difficult to gain strength because nuclear power is already progressing as a major policy in Japan.

 "In Japan, nuclear power plants are dangerous," said Chu Hang-gyu, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University. Which country would believe in south Korea's nuclear power plants and buy them?" he said, pointing out that future nuclear power plant exports would be sustainable only if they prevented related companies from being downfall due to the suspension of construction of Units 3 and 4 of Sinhan-ul.