"'48 Trillion' Nuclear Power Plant Bidding Battle Approaches... Government Dedicated Staff Only '8 People'"

'Wonjunsucheol Jeollyak Chujindan' Launching Within the Year... Nuclear Power Export Control Tower
Government Export-Dedicated Organization Comprises 8 Members... Insufficient Support for Government Strategy
Challenges Including Czech and Poland Bidding Wars... Concerns Over Work Overload
New Nuclear Power Vice Minister Position Faces Difficulties... Requires Amendment of Government Organization Act

A view of Shin Hanul Units 1 and 2 located in Uljin, Gyeongbuk.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Voices are growing that the government's strategy to revitalize nuclear power plant exports is being hindered by departmental selfishness, preventing it from gaining momentum. The 'Nuclear Power Export Strategy Promotion Team,' which serves as the control tower for nuclear power exports, is planned to be launched in the second half of this year, but there is no sign of the practical organization to support the team being established. The creation of a new deputy minister (Level 1) position for nuclear power, included in the new government's national agenda, is also expected to face difficulties.

According to related ministries on the 22nd, the government's nuclear power policy is overseen by one bureau, the Nuclear Power Industry Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Nuclear Power Industry Policy Bureau consists of four divisions: Nuclear Power Industry Policy Division, Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division, Nuclear Power Environment Division, and Nuclear Power Regional Cooperation Division. Among these, the Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division is solely responsible for nuclear power export tasks.

Concerns Over Work Overload

The problem is that the Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division consists of only eight members. Considering that revitalizing nuclear power exports is a core national agenda of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the size of the dedicated team is not large. Accordingly, during the presidential transition committee period, the current government set the expansion and reorganization of the Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division into a 'Nuclear Power Export Bureau' as a national agenda. This is because a single division-level organization is inevitably insufficient to support the government's nuclear power export strategy.

However, discussions on the Nuclear Power Export Bureau have failed to gain momentum due to opposition from relevant ministries such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, raising concerns that the government strategy might be faltering from the start. The Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division has also been assigned to oversee the practical operations of the Promotion Team, which was originally planned to be handled by the Nuclear Power Export Bureau. In other words, tasks initially designated for a bureau-level organization are now being handled by a division-level organization.

Concerns about work overload are growing. The eight-member Nuclear Power Export Promotion Division is tasked with the practical operations of the government-wide control tower Promotion Team, while overseas nuclear power bidding competitions that Korea is targeting, such as in the Czech Republic and Poland, are intensifying. The Czech Republic, currently promoting a nuclear power project worth 8 trillion won, plans to complete the main bidding by November and start negotiations early next year. Poland is pursuing a new nuclear power construction project worth 40 trillion won. Previously, the Polish government proposed nuclear power projects to three countries: Korea, the United States, and France. The main bidding will begin next year.

The nuclear power bidding competitions facing Korea are not limited to these. Saudi Arabia recently sent Korea a request for participation in a nuclear power project bid worth 12 trillion won. Saudi Arabia is said to highly evaluate the technology of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant that Korea built in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Jeong Dong-wook, president of the Korean Nuclear Society, said, "Government support accounts for a significant portion of the factors determining whether nuclear power orders are won," adding, "In terms of construction technology and economic feasibility, Korea's competitiveness is already certain."

Deputy Minister for Nuclear Power Position Also Likely Difficult

The creation of a deputy minister position for nuclear power, a government national agenda, is another challenge. According to the Government Organization Act, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy can only have one deputy minister. To create a deputy minister position specifically for nuclear power in the ministry, which already has a deputy minister for trade, the law must be amended. Given that the government has postponed organizational reforms requiring amendments to the Government Organization Act due to the current political situation of a divided National Assembly, it will be difficult to establish a deputy minister for nuclear power in line with the launch of the Promotion Team. Opposition from relevant ministries such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance also remains a hurdle.

There have been calls to curb departmental selfishness for the sake of the domestic nuclear power industry. Since the nuclear power ecosystem has been devastated by the phase-out policy, there are demands to speed up government strategies such as establishing the Nuclear Power Export Bureau.

In fact, domestic nuclear power exports have halved in contract numbers over the past five years. According to the Korea Nuclear Industry Association, the number of domestic nuclear power export contracts in 2020 was 30, down more than half from 62 contracts in 2015.

An industry insider said, "Nuclear power companies have been pushed to the brink of survival over the past five years," adding, "Companies are in urgent need to survive, but government ministries seem to be fighting over their own interests."

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