Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Industry, Visits Czech Republic to Promote 'Nuclear Power Plant Export' Sales

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, will visit the Czech Republic to engage in "nuclear power plant sales."

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 16th, Minister Moon, currently visiting Spain, will travel to the Czech Republic on the 18th to meet with high-ranking officials of the Czech government. They are expected to discuss nuclear power and industrial technology cooperation on site.

The Czech Republic is promoting the construction of a 1,000 to 1,200 megawatt (MW) class nuclear power plant in the Dukovany area with an investment of 8 trillion won. South Korea, the United States, and France are competing in a three-way battle to win the contract for this nuclear power plant.

The government and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power have solidified a policy of independent bidding and have launched an all-out effort to succeed in winning the contract. Although South Korea and the U.S. recently agreed to jointly enter the overseas nuclear power market, considering the Czech government's preference for competition among bidding companies, they decided to participate independently.

Minister Moon is expected to meet with high-ranking local officials to convey Korea's intention to participate in the bidding, promote the excellence of Korean nuclear power technology, and explore ways for technological cooperation. Earlier, Minister Moon stated at a press briefing that while additional domestic nuclear power plant construction is difficult, they intend to maintain the domestic nuclear power industry ecosystem through overseas nuclear power exports.

The Czech government is known to complete preliminary security reviews of the bidding companies?Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, France's state-owned energy company EDF, and the U.S. Westinghouse?by the end of this year, proceed with the main bidding next year, and finally select the supplier in 2023. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2029, with the goal of starting trial operations in 2036.