President Yoon Suk-yeol tours a nuclear reactor factory owned by Doosan Enerbility in Changwon, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in this file photo taken June 22, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The industry ministry vowed Tuesday to provide companies in the nuclear power industry with work worth 130 billion won (US$99.04 million) this year in an effort to rebuild the sector and expand nuclear power generation.
The work to be provided this year will be meant to improve related facilities and to prepare for the construction of the Shin-Hanul No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors set to begin in 2024, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang said during a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol.
The government also seeks to create more than 100,000 high-quality jobs in the renewable and future energy resources sector by 2030 by supporting 5,000 venture firms and fostering 10 unicorn candidates for technology innovation.
A unicorn company refers to an unlisted startup with a valuation of more than US$1 billion.
The ministry will increase funds for corporate research and development of the energy field to 1 trillion won this year, the ministry said.
The Yoon government is pushing to boost the country’s generation of nuclear power to more than 30 percent of its total energy creation by 2030 to boost energy security and better meet carbon neutrality goals, marking a reversal of the previous administration’s nuclear phase-out policy.
(Yonhap)
