Offical from South Korean governement wants to boost exports of nuclear reactors
- Edited by Linton Levy -
According to a report in the korea herald, Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said that the government will announce a comprehensive plan on promoting exports of nuclear reactors and measures to boost related industries next month.
Choi told reporters that President Lee Myung-bak will chair a meeting of government officials and industry executives to discuss the issue.
"The government will make all-out efforts to increase exports of nuclear reactors next year," Choi said at a press conference in Gwacheon.
His comment came after a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corp. won a landmark $20 billion deal on Sunday to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates by 2020.
Officials said it would generate an additional $20 billion in contracts for operation and maintenance over 60 years. The deal made Korea the world's sixth country to export commercial nuclear plants after the United States, France, Russia, Canada and Japan.
"The deal has opened a renaissance of Korea's nuclear reactor (industry)," he said. It has showed the world of the country's nuclear power capabilities and will help the country enter other markets including Turkey and Jordan, he added.
The ministry is also in talks with the Ministry of Public Administration and Safety to designate Dec. 17 as the nation's nuclear day.
The politician-turned-bureaucrat also vowed to support schools and universities to nurture nuclear engineers for the future and ask related companies such as KEPCO and K-Water to increase the portion of those engineers.
Nuclear reactors are more realistic alternatives for reducing carbon emissions than other renewable energy sources such as wind, water and solar power, he said, adding that it is almost impossible to curb the country's carbon emissions while keeping its economic growth.