UAE deal boosts confidence in South Korean nuclear industry

By Park Sae-jin Posted : July 25, 2016, 10:27 Updated : July 25, 2016, 10:27

[Yonhap News Photo]


South Korea's nuclear energy industry regained its vigor Monday with a new 920 million US dollar deal in the United Arab Emirates that followed a series of corruption scandals, occasional blackouts and safety jitters.

Under the deal, signed in Abu Dhabi with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will be in charge of the operation of the four nuclear reactors which have been under construction in the Middle East country under a $20.4 billion contract in 2009.

The state-run company said Monday that it would send end 210 personnel every year to the UAE by 2030, starting in May 2017 when KHNP's first reactor starts its commercial operation. In a statement released in Seoul, KHNP president Cho Seok said the latest deal would help South Korea win more nuclear deals in the Middle East.

"A new era appears to dawning now," he said, referring to Seoul’s efforts to present a show of confidence in its nuclear power sector and win contracts for building plants abroad.

For decades, South Korea, which has almost no reserves of fossil fuels on its territory, has pushed for a nuclear energy program. It now has 23 nuclear reactors in operation, which meet one-third of the country's power needs, and five more are under construction.

The 2009 contract paved the way for South Korea's first exports of home-made reactors, but Japan's 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima drew unwelcome attention to the use of nuclear energy.

There also have been growing security concerns over the operation of nuclear reactors at home due to occasional blackouts during peak demand seasons as well as corruption scandals that prompted investigators to find safety certificates had been forged for locally-made components.

Yet, the Seoul has vowed to stick to its nuclear power program as Asia's fourth-largest economy could not find an alternative source of energy.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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