Aims to Enter SMR Market in 2030
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KNNP) is speeding up the development of a small module reactor (SMR) which are drawing much attention as a next-generation nuclear power generation method.
"As the global SMR market is expected to expand, we are developing an innovative SMR (i-SMR) that has a competitive edge in the market," a KHNP official said on May 10.
An SMR is a small nuclear power plant below 300 MW that integrates major devices including a nuclear reactor, a steam generator, a coolant pump, and a pressurizer into one body. The modularized devices are produced at a factory and assembled at the plant site. A total of 71 types of SMRs are under development in major developed countries such as the United States, France and Russia.
KHNP has been preparing to promote its SMR business step by step as a future growth driver. With the goal of entering the SMR export market in 2030, the company aims to obtain all necessary licenses for its SMR by 2028. To this end, it plans to invest around 400 billion won to design an SMR over five years and obtain licenses over three years. It expects annual sales of three trillion won from the export of one innovative SMR unit. It also expects SMR exports to create jobs in the nuclear power plant industry and inject vitality into the Korean industrial world.
The United Kingdom's National Nuclear Laboratory 2014 Report forecast that f the SMR market will grow trillion won to at least 30 trillion won and up to 602 trillion won in 2035, depending on the degree of replacing large light water reactors.