"Targeting the Global Small Modular Reactor Market" Gyeongbuk Province Announces Carbon Neutrality Leading 'K-Nuclear Promotion Strategy'

Advisory Meeting Held in Gyeongju to Establish a Global Innovation Nuclear Hub

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Targeting the global market for small modular reactors (SMRs)!”

Gyeongbuk has announced the ‘K-Nuclear Promotion Strategy’ leading carbon neutrality and has embarked on a project to build a world-class nuclear innovation hub.

Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 1st that it will hold an advisory meeting at the Gyeongju Hwabaek Convention Center on the topics of Gyeongsangbuk-do’s K-Nuclear Promotion Strategy, small modular reactors (SMRs), and nuclear hydrogen production.

Key figures such as Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province; Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju; Jeon Chan-geol, County Governor of Uljin; Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH; Jang Soon-heung, President of Handong University; Park Won-seok, Director of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute; and Yoo Sung, Director of the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) will attend the meeting in large numbers.

Taking the groundbreaking of the Munmu Daewang Science Research Institute, located in the Innovative Nuclear Research Complex, as an opportunity, the meeting will gather nuclear capabilities within the region to discuss future plans for Gyeongbuk’s innovative nuclear industry and talent development.

Strategies for next-generation nuclear technologies such as SMRs and nuclear-based hydrogen production, as well as institutional strategies from academia, industry, and research institutes for new national projects and overseas export markets, will also be reviewed.

Prior to the advisory meeting, Gyeongbuk Province announced the ‘K-Nuclear Promotion Strategy’ to establish a global innovative nuclear hub.

It proposed 12 key tasks across four areas: SMRs, nuclear hydrogen, export model development, and institutional improvement & regional coexistence.

Additionally, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Hyundai Engineering presented their respective SMR development and nuclear hydrogen production export strategies.

The advisory committee members will conduct in-depth analysis of Gyeongbuk’s promotion strategy and engage in discussions on various fields including SMR development, talent cultivation, and nuclear power plant safety enhancement.

The core of Gyeongbuk’s newly announced K-Nuclear strategy is SMRs.

Coinciding with the groundbreaking of the Munmu Daewang Science Research Institute, the plan is to establish an SMR national industrial complex centered in Gyeongju by building SMR research and development infrastructure and fostering a nuclear industry ecosystem.

In Uljin, the strategy is to create a green hydrogen production and demonstration complex linked to SMRs, attracting a national industrial complex specialized in green hydrogen.

This strategy is interpreted as a systematic response to the rapidly changing global nuclear power market shifting from large nuclear power plants to small modular reactors, securing new growth engines for nuclear power regions expected to face difficulties due to government energy transition policies, and aiming for long-term regional economic development.

Gyeongbuk Province has already proposed the establishment of a government-led national industrial complex for nuclear materials in one city and county through the wide-area administrative council for nuclear material regions to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk said, “Gyeongbuk has the strength that spread the Saemaul Undong (New Village Movement) worldwide,” adding, “We will steadily implement the K-Nuclear strategy to proactively respond to carbon neutrality and lead the overseas nuclear power export market.”

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