Lawmakers impede KEPCO's reactor bid in UK

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Twenty-eight Korean lawmakers have emerged as the biggest hurdle to the Korea Electric Power Corp.’s (KEPCO) bid to win a 21 trillion won ($18 billion) nuclear power project in the United Kingdom.

KEPCO is about to clinch a deal to take part in the U.K. government-led Moorside project to building a nuclear power plant, which would be its first major export after an $18.6 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates in 2009.

But a group of lawmakers led by main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Woo Won-sik and Greenpeace’s Korean chapter held a joint press conference at the National Assembly this week to voice opposition to it.

“KEPCO’s move to participate in a foreign nuclear power plant project runs counter to the next administration’s green energy policy,” they said in a statement.

The top two presidential candidates — Moon Jae-in from the DPK and Ahn Cheol-soo from the People’s Party — have said they will start to shut down existing nuclear power plants here. The opponents added that as this is the case, KEPCO must scrap its plan to participate in the Moorside project.

Industry watchers and parts suppliers to KEPCO said it was absurd that lawmakers are seeking to block the company from exporting its nuclear technologies.

“KEPCO is trying to export its nuclear power technologies to the U.K. I don’t see any reasons for them to oppose KEPCO’s participation in a foreign project,” an industry insider said.

The lawmakers’ move also raised the ire of KEPCO subcontractors and suppliers. More than 80 small- and medium-sized business suppliers took part in the UAE nuclear reactor project, reaping huge profits.

“We participated in KEPCO’s nuclear reactor project in the UAE in 2009, and were very excited about KEPCO’s move to join the Moorside project in the U.K.,” one subcontractor said.

“If KEPCO’s plan to join the Moorside project falls apart, it will also be a huge loss for small- and medium-sized supply subcontractors like us.”

In the hope that the facility will fill the future electricity shortage from the decommissioning of aging coal-fired and nuclear power plants, the U.K. government came up with the Moorside project on which construction will start in 2018.

Its generating capacity is expected to be up to 3.8 gigawatts, but Japan’s Toshiba, the biggest stakeholder in the construction, is seeking to withdraw from the project after its U.S. nuclear division suffered huge losses.

KEPCO immediately confirmed it was interested in replacing the Japanese company.

“It doesn’t mean we are buying the Toshiba stake, but once debts and assets are reorganized as a result of Toshiba’s withdrawal, we will be the first to join the consortium,” KEPCO CEO Cho Hwan-eik told reporters last month.