IEA Director Fatih Birol: "Korean Nuclear Power Plants Have Global Competitiveness"

[Financial News] 

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), highly praised the export competitiveness of Korean nuclear power plants.
 According to the industry on the 30th, Director Birol stated at the Korea-IEA joint press conference held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan on the 27th, "Korea has sufficient ability to execute nuclear technology, construction, and operation on time and within budget."
 He further emphasized, "It is already well known that Korea is a country with a high reputation in the field of nuclear technology," and "Korea has the capacity to export to various countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Europe, and Vietnam."
 Director Birol's mention of the strength of Korean nuclear power plants as 'On Time, On Budget' is interpreted as the ability to complete projects on schedule and within the set budget. The credibility of Korean nuclear technology has been enhanced as the head of the IEA, in which major countries participate, directly mentioned Korean nuclear power plants.
 The government held the 'Energy Super Week' by linking the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministers' Meeting, Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), Mission Innovation (MI) Ministerial Meeting, and the International Climate Industry Expo (WCE) at BEXCO in Busan from the 25th for five days.
 Meanwhile, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is also expanding exports in response to increasing global demand. During this Energy Super Week, KHNP introduced the 'APR1000', a Czech export model, and the Korean small modular reactor (SMR) 'i-SMR' at the International Climate Industry Expo.
 The APR1400 model passed the European Utility Requirements (EUR) certification review in September 2017 and received EUR certification in 2023. It also obtained Standard Design Approval (SDA) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in September 2018 and Design Certification (DC) in August of the following year.
 The i-SMR is an integrated reactor that can prevent large coolant loss accidents and maintain stability without external emergency power, unlike existing reactors. 

jhyuk@fnnews.com Kim Jun-hyuk Reporter