South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. CEO Whang Joo-ho (2nd from L) shakes hands with Cosmin Ghita, chief of Romania’s nuclear energy company Nuclearelectrica, after signing a contract worth 260 billion won (US$225 million) in Seoul on June 27, 2023, to build a tritium removal facility at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Romania. The signing ceremony was attended by South Korea’s Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang (L) and Romania’s Ambassador to Seoul Cezar Armeanu. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea won a 260 billion-won (US$225 million) deal Tuesday to build a tritium removal facility at a Romanian nuclear power plant that will help ensure its safe operation and boost South Korea’s nuclear power industry, the industry ministry said.
Under the deal with Romania’s nuclear energy company SNN, or Nuclearelectrica, South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) will build the facility at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, some 170 kilometers east of Bucharest, meant to extract tritium from heavy water and store it in a safe form, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The construction is set to be completed in around August 2026, and the facility is expected to be put into commercial operation the following year.
KHNP CEO Whang Joo-ho and SNN chief Cosmin Ghita signed the deal in Seoul in the day, and the signing ceremony was attended by Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang and Romania’s Ambassador to Seoul Cezar Armeanu.
The elimination of heavy tritiated water will significantly reduce the quantity of radioactive waste left to be managed for the decommissioning of its reactors and accordingly minimize radiological risks to people and the environment, as well as save energy needed to produce new heavy water, the ministry said.
It is the second export of nuclear power facilities for the Yoon Suk Yeol government after South Korea won a 3 trillion-won deal in August 2022 to build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant project in El Dabaa, and they are expected to give a boost to the languished nuclear power industry at home, according to ministry.
This file photo, provided by the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) on Aug. 4, 2021, shows the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Romania. The South Korean company said it has been selected as the supplier of voltage stabilizers to the Romanian nuclear power station in international bidding.
The value of the latest contract comes to around 38 percent of South Korea’s total exports to Romania last year, which stood at US$530 million, it added.
“South Korea is known for global-level technologies, and advanced construction materials and industry equipment. It also has the capability to complete work in a swift manner. We take all those factors into account, and we expect to forge deeper ties with South Korea,” Ghita said.
Tuesday’s deal will help boost chances for South Korea to take part in other related projects in the Eastern European nation, including the envisioned project worth around 2.5 trillion won to improve the Cernavoda plant facilities.
The two nations will also discuss ways to work together on small modular reactors and the broader energy sectors, Whang said.
The Yoon administration has vowed to reverse the nuclear phase-out policy of the preceding government and set a target of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.
(Yonhap)
