[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] As expectations for Small Modular Reactors (SMR) grow, related stocks are showing strength. It appears that the emphasis on the importance of SMR by Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, during his first National Assembly negotiation group representative speech on the 16th after taking office, influenced the stock prices.
At 10:51 a.m. on the 16th, Woojin was trading at 9,240 KRW, up 12.41% from the previous day.
KEPCO Industrial Development surged to the price limit, and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction also rose more than 5%.
Leader Song stated, "There are limits to achieving complete carbon neutrality with renewable energy alone," and explained, "For a considerable period, an energy mix policy that comprehensively utilizes hydrogen, nuclear power, and renewable energy is inevitable."
He continued, "In the first Blue House meeting between the President and party leadership, I proposed the need for strategic cooperation in the nuclear industry between Korea and the U.S. in areas such as SMR," adding, "Through the Korea-U.S. summit, both countries agreed on the principle of ‘joint participation in overseas nuclear power plant markets.’"
Furthermore, he emphasized, "The Moon Jae-in administration finalized the development plan for innovative modular reactors, namely SMR, at the 9th Nuclear Promotion Committee in December last year," and added, "SMR has great potential as an effective energy source for Middle Eastern countries with many deserts or countries with significant geographical limitations."
He also said, "Assuming the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, it could be a useful method to supply energy to North Korea, which has many mountainous areas and poor transmission and distribution networks."
SMR is rapidly emerging as a global trend in the nuclear power sector due to its low construction costs and reduced investment risks, aligning with the worldwide movement toward carbon neutrality. The U.S. Biden administration’s energy policy and Bill Gates’ TerraPower are also investing in SMR development, such as the ‘Natrium’ reactor.
Woojin exclusively supplies replacement spare parts for operating nuclear power plant instrumentation domestically. From Shin Hanul Units 1 and 2, Woojin signed exclusive supply contracts for major instrumentation of the nuclear power plants ordered by the client. Woojin is expanding its market by securing CMS supply contracts for nuclear power plants with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), including steel companies like POSCO, being selected as the CMS supplier for UAE nuclear power plants, and supplying CMS for thermal power plants in the Middle East.
Woojin participated in government projects by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy related to next-generation and small reactor development (2013?2018), developing in-core nuclear instrumentation (ICI) mounted on the upper part and control rod drive mechanisms (In-Vessel CEDM). Going forward, Woojin plans to develop instrumentation for small reactors in collaboration with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Korea Electric Power Technology.
Woojin is focusing on the field of ‘Localization of high-performance in-core nuclear instrumentation signal measurement systems and development of prompt response measurement base technology.’ This project is conducted under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s energy technology development program and started in May last year. It aims to develop core protection system technology using prompt response in-core nuclear instrumentation without signal delay. A total of seven institutions, including Woojin, Users (lead organization), and KHNP Central Research Institute, are participating in this large-scale project. Based on its proprietary technology, Woojin is responsible for developing the prompt response in-core nuclear instrumentation.
Woojin explained that the in-core nuclear instrumentation currently used in operating nuclear power plants cannot be applied to core protection systems due to the physical properties of rhodium and is only used for core monitoring systems. The prompt response cobalt (Co) detector has almost no response time, allowing real-time monitoring of all neutron flux conditions around the instrumentation, making it applicable to core protection systems.
Woojin is also conducting research on functional verification of control rod drive mechanism components. The embedded multi-channel control rod position indicator is expected to be applied to the innovative small modular reactor SMART in the future, and once the development of the component technology is completed, it can be applied to various small reactors.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
