(Yonhap Interview) S. Korea’s Czech nuclear bid to revitalize domestic industry: minister

South Korea's recent win of a multimillion-dollar nuclear power project in the Czech Republic will rejuvenate the domestic nuclear industry, which has struggled under the previous administration's phase-out policy, the industry minister said Thursday. On Wednesday, the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) was selected as a preferred bidder to build two reactors at the Dukovany power plant, beating out France's EDF. If finalized, the deal, estimated at 24 trillion won (US$17.3 billion), will mark South Korea's first overseas nuclear power plant project since the KHNP won the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun expressed optimism that the deal is expected to boost South Korea's export bids and revitalize the domestic industry that faced setbacks under the previous Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy. "The local nuclear energy industry has been facing challenging times. I a m pleased that we have secured an opportunity to fully normalize the ecosystem before it is too late," Ahn said. The KHNP's competing with EDF in Europe, its home turf, was like "a battle between David and Goliath," Ahn said, noting South Korea's win of the tender demonstrates it has fully emerged as "a major global player in the nuclear energy sector." He attributed the consortium's success to its proven track record of being "on time and on budget" in the UAE project and hoped the deal would bolster bids in other countries, including Britain and Turkey. Ahn said the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's push to revitalize the nuclear energy ecosystem also contributed to South Korea's winning the deal against the challenging rival. "It would be unreasonable to seek to export nuclear reactors while maintaining the phase-out policy, as no country would want to purchase a discontinued product," Ahn said. Seoul's proposal to step up cooperation in broader areas in the artificial intelligence sector and supply chai n dialogue also sweetened the deal, he noted. "The Czech Republic also wishes to beef up its competitiveness in the artificial intelligence sector, and I believe South Korea was successful in addressing such aspects," he said. The minister said engaging in "excessively exhausting debate" over the nuclear energy is no longer relevant and it is time to harness the nuclear energy ecosystem to meet rising power demand from cutting-edge technologies. He highlighted the role of nuclear power to meet South Korea's carbon neutrality goal outlined in its energy blueprint to complement less efficient renewable energy sources. "South Korea will not go against the global trend toward carbon neutrality, but using only renewable sources is deemed impossible considering the country's geographical aspects," Ahn said. "The artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries are expanding rapidly. We cannot address the massive energy demand only with solar energy." South Korea currently operates 26 atomic power plants, w hich supply about 30 percent of the nation's electricity. Source: Yonhap News Agency