Changwon Special City and Companies Collaborate to Strengthen Defense and Nuclear Competitiveness

Preliminary Planning Meeting for Next-Generation Composite Beam Irradiation Facility Construction Project in Seoul

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Song Jong-gu] On the 22nd, Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam held a preliminary planning meeting for the ‘Next-Generation Complex Beam Investigation Facility Construction Project to Strengthen the Competitiveness of Local Companies’ at the conference room of KDB Life Tower in Seoul with industry-academia-research experts.

About 10 people attended the meeting, including Hong Nam-pyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, Kim Young-sun, National Assembly member, external experts, and companies in the defense and nuclear industries based in Changwon.

The meeting began with a comprehensive report from the Korea Institute of Materials Science, followed by in-depth discussions on the domestic and international accelerator construction and operation status, utilization plans by experts, and the direction for establishing a next-generation advanced complex beam investigation facility specialized in the defense and nuclear industries located in Changwon.

The next-generation complex beam investigation facility is essential infrastructure for securing future new growth engines and overcoming technological limits in core industries. It is a research facility combining accelerators, advanced research equipment, research facilities, and support facilities.

Changwon Special City Mayor Hong Nampyo is speaking at the preliminary planning meeting for the 'Next-Generation Complex Beam Inspection Facility Construction Project to Strengthen the Competitiveness of Local Companies' on the 22nd.

Major countries around the world are building and operating large accelerator infrastructures according to systematic national programs.

Overseas synchrotron accelerator clusters include ▲Grenoble GIANT Project (France) ▲Scandinavian Science Village (Sweden) ▲Hyogo Prefecture Yabushi Optical Science and Technology Special Zone (Japan) ▲Science City Bahrenfeld (Germany), which are utilized as national advanced research infrastructures.

In Korea, 3rd and 4th generation synchrotron accelerators (Pohang) and proton accelerators (Gyeongju) are operated to support basic and fundamental research and industries, while heavy ion accelerators (Daejeon), heavy particle accelerators (Busan), and multipurpose synchrotron accelerators (Cheongju) are currently under construction.

Existing accelerators have mainly been used for basic science research, but recently, their application fields have gradually expanded to future advanced material development, semiconductors, medicine, etc., and an increase in industrial complex beam demand from small and medium-sized material parts companies is expected.

Accordingly, the city has strived to secure national funding for the next-generation complex beam investigation facility construction project as a seed budget to strengthen the competitiveness of the defense and nuclear industry sectors, which are the city’s core industries, and secured 500 million KRW last December for the next-generation advanced complex beam investigation facility construction planning service.

Mayor Hong said, “The Changwon National Industrial Complex has developed as a major pillar of Korea’s manufacturing industry for the past 50 years, but a new foundation is needed for the next 50 years of future food sources. The next-generation complex beam investigation facility is an essential project to cluster companies around an advanced joint research facility specialized in the defense and nuclear industries to enhance competitiveness.”

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