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| Then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol speaks against the backdrop of a nuclear plant in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, Dec. 22, 2022. Yonhap |
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea should fortify cooperation with the U.S. in the global nuclear reactors market dominated by Russia and China, a report said Wednesday.
Most viable, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) report said, is seeking joint projects in the area of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the stable supply of which is critical for the U.S. to advance the small modular reactors (SMR) industry.
HALEU cooperation will help Korea and the U.S. align interests, mostly through keeping in check Russia, the sole and exclusive supplier of HALEU. Korea in the process can generate export income underpinned by engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects and strengthen supply chains with the U.S.
The mutually beneficial relationship will help revitalize the local industry after a yearslong slowdown brought on by the nuclear phase-out policy of the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
According to the report, of the 34 nuclear reactors under construction in 13 countries as of 2022, 23, or 67.6 percent, were sold by Russia. Four more were exported by China, accounting for 11.7 percent.
Anchoring Russia's market dominance is the country's State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM).
The state-run entity provides what the report characterizes as a "one-stop" package whereby a single project encompasses the construction of nuclear reactors, funding, uranium enrichment for fuel supplies, operation and maintenance of power plants thereafter.
The report adds that its decades of experience in what buyers consider thorough execution capabilities remains the driver of close energy cooperation between Russia and 43 countries.
As for China, the nuclear energy system export drive is led by three of its state-run entities ― China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC).
China falls short of Russia in experience exporting nuclear energy systems. But the country's export directives under its Belt and Road Initiative, coupled with the massive size of its market, spurred the advancement of its nuclear energy technologies.
China has exported its own domestically developed Hualong One nuclear reactors to Argentina and Pakistan. It provided about 80 percent in funding for the construction of the reactors at a low rate with extended loan maturity.
It signed an agreement with Kazakhstan, the largest producer of uranium accounting for 45 percent of the global uranium supply, to establish a stable nuclear fuel supply chain.
Korea should be able to restore the nuclear energy market vibrancy, provided that the U.S. agrees to bolster joint cooperation to neutralize the combined forces of Russia and China, which present an emerging security threat, the report said.
"The U.S. is proposing a number of bills to fortify the competitiveness of its nuclear energy sector, in a legislative move to help elevate the private sector-led industry as a global leader," the report said. "A Korea-U.S. energy alliance will be able to reinvigorate local players still reeling from the anti-nuclear drive fanned after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan."
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