By Lee Hyo-sik
Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) will likely build a nuclear power plant in Britain as the European nation moves closer to accepting Korea’s next-generation nuclear reactor.
The state-run utility company has been negotiating with Toshiba to buy the debt-ridden Japanese firm’s 60 percent stake in NuGen, a British nuclear consortium.
French utility firm ENGIE holds the remaining 40 percent stake in the consortium that plans to start building a nuclear power plant near Sellafield, Britain’s nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning site, in 2018.
The British government has raised no issue with KEPCO’s acquisition of the 60 percent stake in NuGen, but was reluctant to allow the consortium to change the type of nuclear reactors.
NuGen had previously planned to use three nuclear reactors from Westinghouse, Toshiba’s struggling subsidiary, but had been asked by KEPCO to switch to the Korea-developed APR-1400.
KEPCO has said it wouldn’t purchase Toshiba’s stake in NuGen unless the consortium chose the APR-1400 reactors for the envisioned power plant.
“We were notified by NuGen that the British government has decided to consider changing the reactor type, which is a positive development for us,” a KEPCO official said.
“But nothing has been finalized yet as to whether we can export our reactors to Britain. We will wait and see what the British government decides.”
KEPCO remains firm it won’t acquire Toshiba’s stake unless the consortium chooses the APR-1400, the official said.
“The APR-1400 has been proven safe and efficient over the years as many nuclear power plants here operate it without any problem,” he said. “There isn’t any reason for Britain to be concerned about its safety. Above all, the ongoing project to build four APR-1400 nuclear reactors in Barakah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the most convincing evidence that proves its safety and competitiveness.”
If Britain chooses the Korean nuclear reactor, it will be the second time KEPCO has exported the APR-1400, eight years after it won the $20 billion UAE project.
In addition to the 60 percent stake in NuGen, Toshiba has been asking KEPCO to buy Westinghouse.
But the company has so far expressed disinterest in the U.S. firm, citing its snowballing debt and the bleak outlook for the nuclear power industry.
In 2006, Toshiba acquired Westinghouse for $5.4 billion. But hit hard by falling demand for nuclear power plants following the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima plant in 2011, Westinghouse has been grappling with declining sales.
Delayed construction of two U.S. nuclear power plants has also chipped away at its financial soundness.