Building the World's Leading Nuclear Power Nation, Gyeongbuk Leads! ... Policy Forum Held

Presidential Office Senior Secretary for Civil Society Actively Supports Early Construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] As government policies for restoring the national nuclear power ecosystem and exporting nuclear power plants are being announced daily, Gyeongbuk Province is moving swiftly to prepare regional-level response measures to these government policies.

On the 27th, the province held a policy forum at POSTECH to build a global nuclear power powerhouse.

The forum was attended by about 100 people including Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province; Kang Seung-gyu, Senior Secretary for Civil Society at the Presidential Office; Park Dong-il, Director General of the Nuclear Power Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Kim Jong-ryul, Director General of the Nature Conservation Bureau at the Ministry of Environment; Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju City; Son Byung-bok, County Governor of Uljin; as well as representatives from central and local government agencies related to nuclear power, civic groups, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Doosan Heavy Industries.

The government plans to launch a nuclear power export strategy task force soon to fulfill the national agenda of exporting 10 nuclear reactors by 2030, and the establishment of a nuclear power export country is also being discussed.

Gyeongbuk Province is continuously urging the swift resumption of construction for Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 and for the government to push this forward with a sense of urgency. This forum was organized to build consensus among relevant central government agencies, nuclear power regions, and experts.

The presenters emphasized that most of South Korea’s leading export-driven industries are power-intensive device industries, making affordable and high-quality electricity essential.

They unanimously agreed that nuclear power is the most competitive energy source to meet this need.

Recently, nationwide government-level efforts to secure orders for nuclear power exports to countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Egypt have been actively underway.

Domestically and internationally, various measures are being explored to strengthen nuclear power export competitiveness, including legal and institutional improvements and enhanced intergovernmental cooperation.

Additionally, due to global energy industry growth and the linkage of 4th Industrial Revolution technologies with nuclear power, the demand for nuclear industry personnel is expected to increase significantly.

However, over the past five years, there has been a decline in admissions and enrollment in nuclear-related majors, highlighting the urgent need to establish a long-term master plan for nurturing nuclear power personnel.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, “Despite the previous government’s anti-nuclear power policy stance, we have persistently and steadfastly advocated the importance of nuclear power. Now, in step with the era of nuclear power sales, the province will actively serve as a facilitator to restore the nuclear power industry ecosystem by supporting government nuclear power exports and strengthening the competitiveness of the nuclear power industry.”

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