With Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power at the forefront as Team Korea courting Saudi Arabia's nuclear power contract, the United States is reportedly pressuring Korea to adopt the U.S.-style nuclear model when exporting reactors to Saudi Arabia.
Team Korea signed a "global agreement" with Westinghouse in January. As a result, Team Korea's bid activities for the Saudi nuclear project are said to be assured. However, after coming under pressure from the United States to adopt the U.S. model, the government is deliberating whether to accept it.
According to the government and the energy industry on the 15th, James Danly, U.S. Department of Energy Vice Minister, who visited Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministers Meeting at the end of Aug., met with senior officials of the Korean government and KEPCO and demanded that, in the Saudi nuclear bid, Korea adopt Westinghouse's AP1000 instead of the "Korean model" APR1400 and jointly bid with Westinghouse.
On this, Seo Wang-jin of the Rebuilding Korea Party asked Minister Kim Jung-kwan during the National Assembly's Trade. Industry Energy. SMEs. and Startups Committee audit of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 13th, "KEPCO will participate in the Saudi nuclear bid in Nov., and there is a tip that the U.S. government demanded changing the reactor type to Westinghouse's large nuclear (AP1000) model and that KEPCO and Westinghouse jointly bid."
Minister Kim said, "Various consultations are underway regarding the Saudi project. Multiple export options, including APR1400 (KEPCO's model), are being reviewed," adding, "We recognize that exporting APR1400 is difficult without U.S. technology authorization." Seo noted, "This is clearly improper interference."
According to the agreement signed by Team Korea and Westinghouse in January, when Korea exports nuclear power plants, it will sign goods and services purchase contracts worth $650 million (about 930 billion won) per unit with Westinghouse and pay $175 million (about 250 billion won) per unit in technology fees. On top of that, the United States proposing joint promotion of the AP1000 project is seen as an intention not only to secure economic gains from Korea but also to retain future leadership of the nuclear ecosystem.
In this situation, Korea has already established a nuclear export supply chain with the APR1400 model. Following the first export, the Barakah nuclear project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the two new reactors contracted with the Czech Republic in Jun. this year are also slated to be supplied as APR1400. Therefore, if the project proceeds with the AP1000 model instead of APR1400, a new supply chain must be built, which will not only lengthen the construction period but also inevitably increase construction expense.
The U.S. pressure for Korea to use a U.S.-style model in its nuclear bids is intended to leverage Korea's strengths in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) in implementing reactor designs. The United States is a powerhouse in original nuclear technologies such as reactor design, but after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, new reactor licensing was halted for a long period, effectively collapsing the nuclear supply chain and eroding construction capabilities.
Therefore, the industry's main view is that if Korea pushes AP1000 construction in Saudi Arabia and builds a new related supply chain, it can be used later for reactor construction in the United States as well, and the economics of U.S. projects will improve. Moreover, U.S. President Donald Trump has set a long-term goal to expand the United States' nuclear installed capacity from about 100 GW (gigawatts) now to 400 GW by 2050.
In the end, from Korea's standpoint, it cannot ignore the reality that even if it wins the Saudi nuclear project, it must comply with U.S. nuclear export controls. A senior official in the nuclear industry said, "Within the U.S.-centered international nuclear control regime, it is virtually difficult for Korea to ignore (the U.S.) proposal and proceed with an independent export," adding, "The government is also deliberating whether to accept it."