Bodes Well for Exports of Korean Nuclear Plants
The first unit of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates has been put into commercial operation. The unit is the first South Korean nuclear power plant built outside South Korea, and the commercial operation is expected to lead to more such cases in the Czech Republic, Poland, and so on.
According to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and the UAE government, the commercial operation started on April 6 for electric power generation and the supply and sale of the generated electricity. It is the first case of South Korea’s commercial nuclear power plant operation outside itself. South Korea has become the sixth nuclear power plant exporter in the world behind the United States, France, Russia, Canada and Japan.
The contract for four units was signed in December 2009 by KEPCO and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation. The plant using the APR1400 reactor developed by South Korea has been built by the consortium of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, KEPCO E&C, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Samsung C&T, and so on.
The commercial operations of the other three units are scheduled for 2024. Then, the four units are expected to be in charge of 25 percent of the power demand of the UAE. In addition, those are expected to reduce the country’s annual carbon emissions by 21 million tons, which is equivalent to the emissions from 3.2 million vehicles.