Nuclear reactors in Dukovany, Czech Republic / Courtesy of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
South Korea becoming a preferred bidder to build two nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic is a remarkable, much-needed feat.
The news is timely as it broke out amid a global push for increased reliance on nuclear energy. An increasing number of countries look to nuclear power to meet the surging demand for electricity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). This signals more business opportunities for South Korean firms. If they succeed in clinching successive bids, nuclear energy can emerge as South Korea’s next cash cow.
Summit diplomacy has played a part in Team Korea’s rise to becoming a preferred bidder. Ahead of the Czech Republic’s bid selection, President Yoon Suk Yeol secretly sent Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun to the European country as a special emissary tasked to persuade decision-makers there to choose South Korea over its competitor. In a presidential letter Minister Ahn presented to the Czech authorities, Yoon promised to help the European country rebuild its manufacturing sector with South Korea’s know-how, and transit into thriving industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.
Although impressive, it’s not fair — albeit not wrong — if Yoon, and his lieutenants, alone take all the credit for the recent developments.
People in the nuclear energy industry are the unsung heroes. Dedicated engineers and visionary corporate leaders had worked tirelessly and rigorously to improve nuclear technology against all odds during the previous Moon Jae-in government when nuclear energy was vilified as a source of disasters. They endured the harsh five years, and their dedication and patience paid off. Without them and their tireless efforts to upgrade nuclear technology, South Korea would have not been able to become a preferred bidder for the $17.4 billion project.
Demand for electricity has surged drastically in the wake of the advent of AI. Big Tech companies announced, one after another, plans to build data centers which, once completed, would require a great deal of energy to operate. Data centers’ electricity consumption is expected to double by 2026, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency.
On top of the AI-driven surge in demand for electricity, humanity’s search for clean energy sources to cut emissions is another factor that facilitated the global nuclear push. Electric vehicles are the poster commodity of the AI age. The protracted war in Ukraine has made things worse by disrupting the global energy supply chain.
The U.S. government, for example, pledged to build more nuclear reactors to cope with the potential drastic shortages of electricity, with plans to triple its nuclear capacity. Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act into law which helps speed up the deployment and licensing of new reactors and fuels.
South Korea has the technology to build safe and globally competitive nuclear reactors. Nuclear energy, along with semiconductors, shipbuilding and cars among others, is expected to become a new cash cow for South Korea.
To seize this golden opportunity, however, there are things that need to be done.
First and foremost, policy consistency needs to be guaranteed, irrelevant of government changes. South Korea has zig-zagged in nuclear energy policy. Nuclear energy was touted as the country’s newest export during the 2009-13 Lee Myung-bak government, and the country soon won a bid to build two nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates. South Korea has since kept working on exporting its nuclear technology to other countries vowing to build nuclear reactors. When President Moon Jae-in took office in May 2017 after the impeachment of his conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye, the liberal president adopted an “anything but Park” policy to deny the previous two conservative governments’ legacies. Moon scrapped South Korea’s nuclear energy policy and announced nuclear power plants would be phased out. But outside the country, the Moon administration kept pushing for sales of South Korea’s nuclear energy. This incomprehensible double standard drew ridicule from experts outside the country.
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At home, the Moon government tried to justify the nuclear energy policy reversal by exaggerating the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis as an example showing how disastrous nuclear power could be. Moon’s prioritization of solar power, among other renewable energy sources, to replace nuclear energy, however, has created a stir as it resulted in the indiscriminate use of land to install photovoltaic power stations which disrupted the nation’s ecosystem. The policy shift also became a conduit to corruption scandals.
Upgrading nuclear technology is another task facing South Korea to benefit more from the global nuclear push. Small modular reactors (SMR) are put forth as an alternative to meet the soaring demand for electricity. South Korean firms should proactively push for innovation to build safer, sustainable nuclear reactors suitable for the age of AI.
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