South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden had their first summit and released a joint statement on May 21. According to the statement, the two countries will cooperate in the global nuclear power market. According to experts, it is the United States that requested the cooperation in that the Moon Jae-in administration is adhering to its nuclear phase-out policy and the United States is currently competing with China to export more nuclear power plants.
“These days, China and Russia are increasing their nuclear power plant exports, and this means the number of nuclear power facilities out of control is increasing on the part of the United States,” said Kyung Hee University professor Chung Bum-jin, adding, “The price competitiveness of the United States in the industry is currently very low due to its lack of construction experience that started in the 1980s, it is in need of South Korea’s competitiveness, know-how and experience, and it seems that the United States is aiming to dominate the global market by combining its source technologies with South Korea’s know-how and equipment supply capabilities.”
It is also said that the request is to prevent South Korea from exporting nuclear power plants at will. According to the statement, South Korea cannot build a nuclear power plant in a country that is not subject to an IAEA inspection. This is because the export destinations are limited to those under the IAEA Additional Protocol according to the statement.
At present, Saudi Arabia is wishing to import nuclear power plants while being reluctant to accept the inspection. According to experts, this is because Saudi Arabia is wishing to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuels. It is currently out of the protocol for inspecting unreported facilities.
In other words, the joint statement is for the United States to block South Korea from exporting its nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia without its approval. In short, South Korean exporters in the industry are now facing one more hurdle. At present, South Korea is competing with the United States, China and France for two new plants in Saudi Arabia, which are estimated to be worth US$12 billion.
