By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korea's nuclear industry is benefiting from the increased global demand for nuclear energy, with companies starting to find export markets for technology, equipment and components, industry sources said Friday.
Currently, there are about 250 nuclear projects around the world, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan. Korean manufacturers are upping their efforts to exploit the growing market and generate more of their revenue from abroad.
Nuclear power is considered to be well positioned in the current economic downturn, as the projects are based on long-term investments with substantial government backing, and so far, only one nuclear project has been canceled due to the global economic crisis, according to the report.
Although the international interest in Korean nuclear power technology is currently limited to research reactors, industry officials consider the current phase as a crucial step in getting a piece of the more lucrative market for commercial reactors.
A consortium consisting of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daewoo Engineering and Construction, Korea Power Engineering and Doosan Heavy Industry and Construction will submit a bid to construct a 5-megawatt research reactor in Jordan, said an official at the Ministry of Science, Education and Technology.
The Koreans are expected to compete with Argentine technology company, INVAP, and other companies from Russia and China for the project.
The Jordanian reactor will cost in the range of around 300 to 400 billion won (about $318 million) and a multiple number of preferred bidders will be announced next month, government officials said.
``We can't comment specifically on the subject at this point,'' a ministry official said.
Research reactors, also called non-power reactors, are nuclear reactors that serve primary as a source for neutrons, unlike power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation and other industrial purposes.
The neutrons produced by research reactors are used for testing materials, production of radioisotopes and other research and educational purposes.
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute first built Korea's first research reactor, Hanaro, in 1995.
The Korean consortium involved in the Jordanian project is also competing with other bidders for the rights to construct the Netherlands' 80-megawatt research reactor, PALLAS, which would be the world's biggest non-power reactor when completed.
The project, which could be worth over one trillion won, has also drawn the interest of INVAP and France's AREVA.
Korea Power Engineering recently edged both INVAP and AREVA to secure a 1.5 billion won contract to renovate Greece's 50-megawatt research reactor, GPR-1, which was built in the 1960s.