[Collapsed Nuclear Ecosystem①] Even Industry Hidden Champions Have Zero Exports... Sharp Decline in Nuclear Engineering Graduates

Five Years of Moon's Nuclear Phase-Out... Nuclear Ecosystem Pushed to the Brink of Collapse
Sharp Decline in Nuclear Engineering Students... Cracks in Talent Development System
"Contracts Withdrawn Due to Distrust in Products from Nuclear Phase-Out Country"

Geumseong High-Tech factory, a small and medium-sized manufacturer located in Gimpo, Gyeonggi. The company's sales shrank from 18.7 billion won in 2017 to 3.8 billion won last year. This is due to the termination of the contract with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which accounted for half of the sales, caused by the government's nuclear phase-out policy.
[Photo by Joonhyung Lee]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee, Sejong=Reporter Junhyung Lee] Five years after the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, the domestic nuclear power industry ecosystem is on the brink of collapse. As the future of the domestic nuclear power industry becomes uncertain, the number of students applying for related majors has drastically decreased, and medium-sized and small companies responsible for the roots of the industry, such as parts production, are also switching industries one after another.

According to academia and the Korea Nuclear Industry Association on the 21st, the nuclear ecosystem, which took a direct hit after the Moon Jae-in administration made the nuclear phase-out policy a national agenda in 2017, is the talent cultivation system. The number of new students majoring in nuclear power at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels in Korea decreased by 34.7%, from 802 in 2016 to 524 in 2020. During the same period, the number of new master's students dropped by about 42%, from 182 to 106. According to the university information disclosure system 'University Alimi,' the number of students enrolled in the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST plummeted by 67.1%, from 64 in 2017 to 21 in 2020. During the same period, the number of students in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Hanyang University also decreased by 26.1%, from 195 to 144.

In particular, in the case of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University, the dropout rate unusually soared to 5.1% in 2018, the year following the nuclear phase-out declaration, with 8 students dropping out and 1 student not registering. Cha Minsu, former president of the National Nuclear University Students Union and a graduate student in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University, said, "Due to the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, students majoring in nuclear power and nuclear fission were especially psychologically constrained," adding, "Recently, with news that the new government is abolishing the nuclear phase-out policy, people say 'Now I can study with peace of mind,' but it seems we need to watch carefully as restoring the collapsed ecosystem will not be easy."

The atmosphere in the industry was similar. Due to a lack of work and decreased sales, company operating funds have run dry, pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy. Even Geumseong High-Tech, considered a 'hidden champion' in the nuclear power industry for domestic production of compressed air dehumidifiers, has seen its sales drop to one-fifth in the past five years. This is because contracts with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which accounted for half of the company's sales after the nuclear phase-out policy, were abruptly cut off. The number of employees, once about 100, is now only around 20. The company's CEO said, "Overseas companies that inquired about estimates also withdrew their contract intentions, saying they could not trust products from a nuclear phase-out country," adding, "Exports were at zero level until last year, so it is fortunate that we have survived so far."

Jung Dongwook, president of the Korean Nuclear Society and professor in the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Chung-Ang University, expressed concern, saying, "With the government's nuclear phase-out policy halting new nuclear power projects, cases of parts suppliers switching industries have increased," and "It will take considerable time to restore the domestic nuclear power industry infrastructure and export competitiveness."

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