By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and the Turkish government are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) late this month on a joint study to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey.

Under the MOU, KEPCO and Turkey will form a task force to tackle such issues as site selection, period of construction and financing, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Thursday.

Turkey is still not fully prepared for nuclear projects despite its willingness. Accordingly, the MOU will give KEPCO a supporting role for Turkey on the project, it said.

The country is currently eager to build nuclear power plants to meet its growing energy demand.

The Korean government, however, was cautious not to get carried away with high expectations for the deal.

"KEPCO has signed similar agreements with other countries before. This MOU doesn't necessarily mean a green light for another pending overseas deal, even though it could be helpful for the goal," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

KEPCO has been reviewing the deal over the past few months. It had earlier said it's in talks with Turkey to sell the APR1400, a 4,000-megawatt pressurized water reactor.

Following a $2 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates in December, KEPCO is in talks with Turkey to build up to four light-water type reactors. Each is expected to cost $5 billion.

Last month, KEPCO CEO Kim Ssang-soo visited Turkey to discuss the issue.

In 2008, a Turkish-Russian consortium became the only bidder to build the power station on the Black Sea coast, in the northern part of the country, but Turkey canceled the tender last November.

Korea looks to sell 10 reactors abroad by 2012 and expand the number to 80 by 2030, accounting for 20 percent of new nuclear plants worldwide over the next 20 years.

Seoul plans to roll out customized export strategies to meet the needs of target markets, and also secure technological self-sufficiency to strengthen its advantage in the global market.

A total of 99.6 billion won will be invested in the ongoing project of developing core technologies for plants. The government expects the project to be finished by 2012.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr