Naju City Submits 'Multipurpose Synchrotron Accelerator Hosting Petition' to Jeonnam Province

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Han-hyuk] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 24th that it submitted a handwritten petition signed by 109,527 citizens and hometown residents supporting and wishing for the attraction of the multipurpose synchrotron radiation accelerator to Naju to Jeollanam-do on the 23rd.

The petition supporting the attraction to Naju is scheduled to be submitted to the Ministry of Science and ICT along with Jeollanam-do’s synchrotron radiation accelerator attraction plan on the 29th.

The city has focused on building consensus with citizens as the top priority in the multipurpose synchrotron radiation accelerator construction project.

Before the spread of COVID-19, starting at the end of January, the city held a lecture inviting experts on the 4th generation circular synchrotron radiation accelerator, and from February, it conducted promotional education on the necessity and justification of attracting the synchrotron radiation accelerator to over 1,200 community leaders, including heads of all 20 towns, townships, and neighborhoods, and resident autonomy committee members.

Earlier, last month, the city distributed a special newsletter on the attraction of the synchrotron radiation accelerator to all citizens and vigorously carried out an online and offline support declaration campaign.

The signature campaign, which lasted for three weeks from the 24th of last month, was finally tallied with 109,527 people participating with handwritten signatures, including citizens, hometown residents living elsewhere, and employees of local government offices and public institutions.

The multipurpose synchrotron radiation accelerator construction project is a massive national project with a total budget of 1 trillion KRW, including 800 billion KRW of national funds, to establish a 4th generation circular synchrotron radiation accelerator and auxiliary facilities by 2027.

Recognized as an essential facility in the 4th industrial revolution era, the synchrotron radiation accelerator accelerates electrons to the speed of light, enabling ultra-fine processing and analysis of ultra-microscopic objects as advanced research equipment.

It is widely used in energy fields such as secondary batteries, new materials, and semiconductors, as well as in basic scientific research including physics, chemistry, biotechnology, and new drug development.

Along with Jeollanam-do, the city proposed the construction of the synchrotron radiation accelerator linked with Korea Electric Power Corporation University (KEPCO University) to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Science and ICT in April last year, and in July, through the KEPCO University Government Support Committee hosted by the National Balanced Development Committee, approved the basic plan for establishing KEPCO University including the synchrotron radiation accelerator facilities.

The basic plan for establishing KEPCO University was reported at the Cabinet meeting in August last year.

Additionally, in January last year, the KEPCO University Pan-Naju Citizens Support Committee, which was launched, was expanded and converted into a citizen promotion group for attracting the synchrotron radiation accelerator, and on the 6th, it announced a statement supporting the attraction of the multipurpose synchrotron radiation accelerator to Naju for balanced development in the Honam region.

The promotion group particularly pointed out the unbalanced development regarding the lowest level of national industrial technology R&D budget allocation in the Honam region nationwide and the synchrotron radiation accelerators already established in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions, strongly asserting the justification for attracting the synchrotron radiation accelerator to Naju, which will create synergy with the Energy Valley and KEPCO University.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “Now is the time for the government’s decision to prepare for the future of Honam that will realize the balanced national development aimed by the Moon Jae-in administration and to nurture talent,” adding, “The synchrotron radiation accelerator, which is the wish of 5 million citizens of Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk and will lead Honam’s growth, must be established in the Naju Innovation City.”

The local governments that have submitted letters of intent to attract the synchrotron radiation accelerator are four regions: Naju in Jeollanam-do, Chuncheon in Gangwon, Cheongju in Chungbuk, and Pohang in Gyeongbuk.

The Ministry of Science and ICT’s site selection evaluation committee plans to announce the evaluation on the 6th of next month and select the priority negotiation region through on-site verification and final evaluation on the 7th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.