Nuclear Export
South Korea’s nuclear R&D technology marks its first success in export to Europe.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning revealed on June 24 that the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) consortium wins a bid as a partner to upgrade Delft University of Technology’s experimental reactor, also known as the OYSTER Project.
The KAERI-run Consortium consists of KAERI, Hyundai Construction, and Hyundai Engineering.
The objective of this project is to complete the upgrade of the reactor’s capacity from the current two megawatts to three megawatts by the end of 2017. This deal costs 19 million euros (about US$26 million).
This bidding holds significant meaning as it won a brutally relentless competition against international consortia from nuclear-power dominant nations such as France, Germany, and Russia.
South Korea’s nuclear technology projects so far were limited to Asia, such as the UAE’s commercial atomic power plant contract in 2009, Jordan’s research system contract in 2009, Thailand’s nuclear research facility upgrade project in 2009, and Malaysia’s nuclear digital system upgrade in 2012.
In contrast, this is acclaimed to be a significant move, as South Korea’s nuclear energy proves to be world class to win a deal in the nuclear-technology dominant Europe.
Above all, this winning bid proves that President Park Geun-gye’s diplomacy played a major role in the 3rd Nuclear Security Summit in Prague March this year.
President Park had actively engaged in promoting the highly-skilled domestic nuclear technology along with research-related projects including OYSTER.
This upgrade is based on a cold neutron source, a US$39.6 million model developed by KOAERI for seven years since July 2003.
The science minister, Choi Moon-gi, stated that “The winning OSTER bid is a success marking the bright future for nuclear technology export in Europe. It will also serve as a great advantage in the future bid for Netherland’s construction of reactor known as the PALLAS project.”