■ Appearance: Joo Han-kyu / Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University
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[앵커]
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has won a 3 trillion won contract for a nuclear power plant in Egypt. It is the first trillion-dollar nuclear power plant export in 13 years since 2009.
[앵커]
Let’s take a look at the significance of the first overseas nuclear power plant order in 13 years, and the remaining tasks, together with Professor Joo Han-kyu of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University. Welcome, Professor.
[주한규]
hello.
[앵커]
Won a 3 trillion won contract to build a nuclear power plant in El Dava, Egypt. What does it mean to be part of a 40 trillion won project?
[주한규]
Although we are not the main part of the nuclear power plant, we have been able to participate in the construction and delivery of secondary systems following auxiliary equipment, so that the nuclear power plant industry has been on the verge of death because there has been no nuclear power plant construction in the meantime. I think it is such a meaningful order to provide.
[앵커]
I have summarized the business outline next to the professor. In particular, it is necessary to look at the contents of the order that Korea has received.
[주한규]
Yes. The reactor has a dome-shaped reactor building and next to it is a turbine building. There, the turbine is turned to generate power, and the reactor and steam generator in the nuclear reactor are the main machines, and the turbine and generator are the main machines. doing things like that. They also build a turbine building next to the nuclear power plant and supply all auxiliary equipment to it.
[앵커]
So, the turbine building construction is the part that you just mentioned, so it seems that some point out that this is a building construction.
[주한규]
That’s a misunderstanding. It’s not just a building, there are a lot of equipment and equipment that goes into it. auxiliary devices. things like that together. That’s because we have such a complete supply chain for nuclear power plants, so Russia saw it and gave it to us so that we might receive the supply from our country.
[앵커]
okay. I heard that private companies, including KHNP, have been preparing for this order for five years, and this time the contract was made. However, in the process, there was a concern that the outbreak of the Ukrainian war might be a variable here as well. How did it go?
[주한규]
In fact, this started for the first time in June 2016, because KHNP officials must fully export nuclear power plants to foster nuclear power in Korea. We approached Russia’s Rosatom, which is very active in the market. So there was Vietnam, and then Egypt, and so on, and we ended up ordering it with an Egyptian one, and what Korea successfully built in the UAE desert in Barakah received a very high evaluation and received an order there.
[앵커]
So in the case of Korea, we had previously won a nuclear power plant order from the UAE in 2009, but 13 years have passed and we have won the order once more this time. However, there is a meaning to this in itself, but there is a part where we are looking for the initial meaning of this nuclear power plant order. There was a story regarding the African nuclear power plant.
[주한규]
Now, this is the first nuclear power plant in Africa, and this is the Mediterranean side facing the Mediterranean side at the northern tip of Africa, and that is a desert area. It is a desert area outside the delta of the Nile River Basin, and the construction capability that we built in the UAE for the first time in the desert area would apply here as well.
[앵커]
okay. If you look at it now, you are talking regarding nuclear power competitiveness, in other words, K nuclear power plant. What kind of competitiveness do you have in terms of technology and unit price?
[주한규]
For the past 40 years, Korea has continued to build two nuclear power plants every three years. So we have a complete supply chain, we can do it all on our own. So, first of all, price competitiveness is excellent. That’s why it’s cheaper than nuclear power plants in the U.S., 1/3, France, and Russia. After that, the technology is very good, so it is highly regarded in the world market.
[앵커]
Korea is the only country that has built a nuclear power plant in the desert. There seems to be a story like this.
[주한규]
Yes. A place like a desert is hot first. The temperature of the sea water is high and there are sand storms and such. In order to operate normally and safely in such a special environment, many design changes are required, unlike the design of the nuclear power plant that was originally designed to be built in Korea. For example, because the seawater is hot there, the drain temperature rises, so you have to do something like a seawater bypass pump that mixes water from the drain side to the side, and then there will be no sand storms.
Then we have to have a system like windows and everything else that can filter out sand. We had to do a lot more air conditioning than we did in Korea, so there were a lot of design changes. That’s what Russia rated very highly. [앵커] Judging from the media titles regarding this large-scale order, it is a signal of the revival of the nuclear power plant industry. Also, there were expectations that the ecosystem will be restored, that it will be restored. What does it mean for the ecosystem to be restored?
[주한규]
In the past four years, nuclear phase out has been very strongly implemented, but the biggest harm is the failure to build a new nuclear power plant. So, the sales of the nuclear power plant industry and the manufacturing industry fell sharply, and the sales, which would normally be regarding 5 trillion won, fell to less than 3 trillion won, resulting in a cumulative loss of regarding 6.7 trillion won over the past five years.
And the number of people working in the nuclear power plant manufacturing industry decreased by 17% from 22,000 to 18,000 people, so some people left the industry, and there were employers who closed their businesses because there was no work. If you are selected as a business operator and can deliver while doing so, it will be a signal for revival.
[앵커]
So, as you said, Korea has been building regarding two nuclear power plants in three years, and now it is gone. However, because of this nuclear power plant order, as far as I know, it is participating in the Czech project bidding in November. Do you think this know-how will be helpful once more?
[주한규]
It would be helpful to design a design suitable for the other country and suggest our contract terms. However, the construction of the Czech gun will start in 2029. The Egyptian case will be much more helpful to the nuclear power industry, which is dying right now.
[앵커]
What if there are some things we need to jump over? First of all, in the case of Russia, it is recognized as a competitor, and it seems that there will be many competitors. Absence of source technology From this point of view.
[주한규]
Rather than that, the countries that can compete with us in the global market are Russia, China, and then the United States. We have to move forward in a cooperative relationship. What can be said to be difficult is that even places like Saudi Arabia want to do our own thing because of Korea’s ability to construct deserts. There is a political problem, and it’s a bit difficult to do that, but I think we should work together well with the United States to share some of it, or by doing that, we can achieve Saudi Arabia and Poland as well.
[앵커]
As I saw earlier, in this Eldava nuclear power plant project plan, the project period is from 2022 to 2030. Once the order is received, it will take months or years before the actual order is placed.
[주한규]
From the end of this year, operators will be selected and machines will be supplied next year and the next year. [앵커] So what kind of support do you need? [주한규] The backing is that there will be some companies in the industry that have lost their manpower. There is hope for such people in the future, so please come back.
[앵커]
We talked briefly before, but there will be bids for the Czech business, and there will be more bids like this in the future. What are the important points to consider when bidding, and what level of competitiveness does Korea have?
[주한규]
There can be many difficulties in building in that country. We built well in the desert, but for example, we are also looking to enter the UK. In the UK, we have to raise several finances and build and do some local companies, and we have to consider those requirements.
[앵커]
Okay. We looked at the meaning of winning an overseas nuclear power plant order for the first time in 13 years. I worked with Professor Hankyu Joo of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University. Professor, thank you.
[주한규]
Thank you.
YTN Joo Han-kyu (yimjy1128@ytn.co.kr)
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