Industry Minister Starts 'Nuclear Power Sales'... Targets 48 Trillion Won Eastern European Market

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Nuclear power plant located in the Dukovany region in the southeast of the Czech Republic.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, will visit the Czech Republic and Poland consecutively at the end of this month for 'nuclear power plant sales.' The Czech Republic and Poland are each promoting new nuclear power plant construction projects worth 8 trillion won and 40 trillion won, respectively. Analysts say the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's vision of becoming a 'nuclear power superpower' is being put into full swing.

According to related ministries on the 18th, Minister Lee will form a delegation with domestic nuclear power-related institutions and companies and visit the Czech Republic on the 27th of this month. The delegation, including Minister Lee, will leave the Czech Republic on the 29th and head directly to Poland. Minister Lee plans to hold talks with high-ranking officials such as energy ministers and nuclear power industry businesspeople in the Czech Republic and Poland. He will conclude his schedule in Poland on the 1st of next month and return to Korea.

Minister Lee, who took office last month, chose the Czech Republic and Poland as his first overseas destinations for nuclear power plant contract activities. The Czech Republic, which Minister Lee will visit first on this trip, is promoting a nuclear power plant project worth 8 trillion won. It is a project to build one 1200MW-class pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant by 2040 in the Dukovany and Temelin regions in the southeast of the Czech Republic.

1st Industrial Technology CTO Roundtable
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, is presiding over the '1st Industrial Technology CTO Roundtable' on the 16th at the EC Room of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. June 16, 2022 [Provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Redistribution and DB prohibited]
Photo by Yonhap News
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Korea has already entered the Czech nuclear power plant contract competition. Earlier, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power participated in the Czech nuclear power plant main bidding in March. The Czech government plans to complete the main bidding in November and start negotiations early next year. The Czech nuclear power plant contract competition is expected to be a three-way contest among Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the U.S. Westinghouse, and the French Electric Power Company (EDF). Winning this contract would give Korea a favorable position in the competition for three new nuclear power plants under review by the Czech government.

Poland, which Minister Lee will visit after the Czech Republic, is also promoting a new nuclear power plant construction project. The Polish nuclear power plant project is a large-scale project worth 40 trillion won to build up to six nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 9000MW. Previously, the Polish government proposed the nuclear power plant project to three countries: Korea, the U.S., and France. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power submitted a business proposal to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the main department in charge of the Polish nuclear power plant project, in April. The main bidding will begin next year.

Along with Minister Lee's Eastern European trip, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's nuclear power plant export strategy is expected to accelerate. The Czech and Polish nuclear power plants are the projects with the most imminent contract schedules among confirmed nuclear power plant construction plans. If the government puts effort into it, visible results worth trillions of won could come out within one to two years.

The government is also speeding up the establishment of a control tower to oversee nuclear power plant export support. On the 8th of this month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a 'Preparation Meeting for Nuclear Power Plant Export Promotion' with the public and private sectors and initiated the launch of the Nuclear Power Export Strategy Promotion Team. The Nuclear Power Export Strategy Promotion Team, a national task of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, is a control tower that concentrates government-wide capabilities to comprehensively support nuclear power plant exports by nuclear power-related companies such as Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The government plans to activate the Nuclear Power Export Strategy Promotion Team within the second half of this year.

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