“Now we have a bridgehead to export nuclear power plants to Europe,” said Ahn Duk-geun, South Korea’s minister of trade, industry and energy, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Czech reactors are not the only projects South Korea is bidding on. Korea Hydro & Nuclear is conducting a feasibility study for a nuclear power plant in Netherlandswhile the Swedish company Vattenfall is considering using Korean technology. The country is also in talks to supply reactors to Great Britain, Poland and Slovenia, which brings it closer to the government’s plan to export 10 units by 2030.
American lawsuit
The rise of Korea’s nuclear power industry won’t come without competition from other countries. President Joe Biden signed legislation this week that aims to revive the U.S. nuclear industry and even make it easier to export the technology.
Meanwhile, the company Westinghouse Electric filed a lawsuit against the Koreans, in which it claims that Korea is exploiting its intellectual property and therefore seeks an injunction against sharing this technology further. The American company warned it may file legal challenges over the deal with the Czech Republic.
All-in-one package.
South Korea’s growth in nuclear power is largely due to its ability to deliver reactors in the form of comprehensive packages. The Koreans provide equipment, construction and fuel supply to the reactor’s launch, maintenance and even financing in one package. At the same time, Korean companies largely meet deadlines while reducing costs, something that companies from other countries do not usually do, Bloomberg notes.
The construction of reactors in the Czech Republic is expected to cost 400 billion crowns ($17.3 billion). Meanwhile, Electricite de France announced earlier this year that the costs of two reactors in Hinkley Point in the UK will be worth as much as £35 billion, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to $45 billion. Work on the British reactor will take several years longer than planned.
In the USA, a nuclear power plant in Southern-owned Vogtle overshot budget by more than $16 billion and was delayed for seven years.
