Government Sets 10 Trillion Won Nuclear Power Export Target by 2027... "Focusing Order Capabilities on Large-Scale Projects"

Inspection Meeting for Promising Nuclear Power Equipment Export Projects

The government has decided to focus its order-winning capabilities on large-scale projects to achieve its 10 trillion won nuclear power export target by 2027.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a 'Promising Nuclear Power Equipment Export Project Review Meeting' chaired by Second Vice Minister Choi Nam-ho.

The government presented the export target of 10 trillion won for nuclear power equipment by 2027 at the 14th Public Livelihood Debate held on the 22nd of last month. This meeting was held as a follow-up measure to the Livelihood Debate to review ways to achieve the export target.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained, "There are currently 415 operating nuclear reactors worldwide, and with recent new nuclear power plant constructions and extended operations, the demand for nuclear power equipment is rapidly increasing." He added, "The government established the 'Nuclear Power Equipment Export Activation Plan' in March last year, recognizing that nuclear power equipment exports are a blue ocean market, not only focusing on bulk orders for new nuclear power plants."

Previously, the government expanded the nuclear power export support budget from 3.3 billion won in 2022 to 6.9 billion won in 2023, and 33.5 billion won in 2024. Additionally, it has been conducting multifaceted support activities such as establishing eight key diplomatic missions and ten trade centers focused on nuclear power exports, and launching the Nuclear Power Export First Step Program (selecting 13 companies in 2023).

Overview of Unit 4 at Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, UAE. (File photo)

Thanks to these efforts, in just 1 year and 8 months since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration (May 2022 to December 2023), a total of 105 export contracts worth 4.0086 trillion won have been achieved. This is more than six times the export contract amount (approximately 600 billion won) over the past five years (2017?2021). The government secured large-scale projects such as the 3 trillion won Egypt El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant construction project and the largest single equipment project to date (260 billion won) for the Romania tritium removal facility construction project. At the same time, it achieved results in various fields including single-item equipment, operation and maintenance services, and small modular reactor (SMR) design (a total of 103 contracts worth about 750 billion won).

The government plans to continue this upward trend and make every effort to achieve export targets of 5 trillion won in 2024 and 10 trillion won in 2027. First, it will focus its capabilities on winning large-scale projects such as nuclear power plant refurbishment and generator replacement, which have large business scales and allow participation from many companies. Next, it will diversify the export portfolio by expanding into smaller-scale but high value-added areas such as design, education and training, and diagnosis and inspection. Furthermore, it plans to strengthen support for overseas expansion of small and medium-sized nuclear power companies by providing special nuclear export guarantees (125 billion won), expanding the Nuclear Power Export First Step Program (from 13 companies in 2023 to 30 in 2024), hosting a special nuclear export exhibition (this December), and designating additional key trade centers. The government also aims to complete export contracts for equipment to Egypt and Romania (71 items worth 770 billion won) within the year so that domestic companies can tangibly feel the export achievements.

Vice Minister Choi said, "The normalization of nuclear power policy under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, strong determination for nuclear power exports, and the establishment of a close public-private cooperation system have been the driving forces behind the 4 trillion won export of nuclear power equipment." He added, "To achieve the 10 trillion won export target by 2027, the public and private sectors must unite as one team with extraordinary resolve and make every effort."