Saudi Arabia is promoting a 12-trillion-won nuclear power plant construction project.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is planning to have summit talks with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in November this year. Attention is focusing on the outcome of the meeting in the nuclear power industry as South Korea is aiming to export at least 10 nuclear power plants by 2030 and Saudi Arabia is resuming nuclear power generation projects adding up to 12 trillion won.
In May this year, Saudi Arabia sent its bid invitation to South Korea, China, France and Russia regarding the construction of two nuclear power plants, 1.4 GW each. According to experts, South Korea and Russia have comparative advantages in the project in that France’s supply price is very high and China has no experience in desert-area nuclear power plant construction.
South Korea’s biggest risk in the project is the fact that Saudi Arabia is against IAEA inspections, which may cause the United States to block South Korea’s project in Saudi Arabia. According to the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954, a country using US nuclear power technology cannot conduct, for example, uranium enrichment without US consent. South Korea’s export model APR1400 was developed based on Westinghouse’s technology.
Experts point out that South Korea should cooperate more with the United States in order to win the project in Saudi Arabia. “The cooperation is essential for future projects in other regions as well as that in Saudi Arabia,” said Kyung Hee University nuclear engineering professor Jung Bum-jin, adding, “The United States is also doing calculations on the premise that Russia winning it is an undesirable outcome.”
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