S. Korea to export nuclear technology to Europe for first time in 50 years
June 30, 2014 Leave a comment
S. Korea to export nuclear technology to Europe for first time in 50 years
2014.06.24 14:21:42
South Korea has de facto landed a deal to overhaul the Dutch research nuclear reactor.
This is the first time for Korea to export nuclear technology to Europe.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Tuesday KAERI, a consortium comprising Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering, was picked as a preferred bidder for the ‘project to raise the research nuclear reactor’s output and construct cold neutron facilities at Delft University of Technology.’
The project seeks to boost the research reactor’s thermal output from 2 megawatt (MW) to 3 MW, upgrade various facilities and build cold neutron research facilities by the end of 2017. The deal is valued at 19 million euro (about 26 billion won).
A research reactor is a facility that taps neutrons produced during the uranium’s nuclear fission to carry out diverse research. The reactor is used for a range of research purposes such as the analysis of nano-scale structure, an emerging new material, and biotechnology.
KAERI was named a preferred bidder after fiercely competing with France-based global nuclear power company AREVA and a consortium of Germany-based NUKEM and Russia-based NIEKET.
This is especially significant in that Korea diversified export destinations of nuclear technology from the Middle East and Southeast Asia to Europe, which has the world’s best technological capacity. Europe has cutting-edge research reactor facilities, such as the ILL in France and the FRM-2 in Germany.
The success stemmed from the experience of independently designing and operating Hanaro research reactor for 20 years and technological competence and price competitiveness proven in the cases of securing nuclear power plant construction order in the UAE and research reactor construction contract in Jordan.
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