Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction had been listed as one of the companies expected to suffer the most from the government’s policy to wean the nation off nuclear power. But now it is the one of the companies expected to see the most gains after Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) was named preferred bidder to acquire a British government project to build the Moorside Nuclear Power Station from Toshiba. Doosan is a Korean provider of reactors, steam turbines and other major equipment outfitted with nuclear power units.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction heaved a sigh of relief when the government decided to resume the construction of Shin Kori Nuclear Power Units 5&6, but the company has been in crisis mode as the government has scrapped all plans to build more nuclear plants, including Shin Hanul Nuclear Power Units 3&4 and Cheonji Nuclear Power Units 1&2. If and when KEPCO is awarded the British nuclear power unit, chances are high that Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will be selected as a supplier of major equipments, including reactors, to the British nuclear power project. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has participated in Korean nuclear power projects. The first was the 1987 Hanbit Nuclear Power Units 3&4.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has abundant experience with the homegrown nuclear power standard APR-1400, not the AP-1000 of Westinghouse with which the British nuclear project is now adopting. Weistinghouse will deliver APR-1400 reactors to not only Shin Kori Nuclear Power Units 3&4 as well as Shin Hanul Nuclear Power Units 1&2, now under construction in Korea. The company has already delivered APR-1400 reactors to the Bakarah Nuclear Power Plant with four units under construction in the United Arab Emirates, said Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Senior Executive Vice President Na Ki-yong.
The NuGen project by NuGeneration, which is the British subsidiary of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company, calls for the construction of three nuclear power units with a combined capacity of 3.8GW at the Moorside site on the coast of Cumbria, northwest England, by 2020.
Three nuclear units are to adopt the AP-1000 reactor, but if Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is allowed to participate in the project, the planned British nuclear power plant will require two APR1400s with a combined capacity similar to that of three AP-1000s.
In that case, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will likely land an order worth approximately 3 trillion won to 4 trillion won.
Korean Govt. Steps Up Support to Export Homegrown Nuclear Technology Abroad
The Korean government is accelerating efforts to export homegrown nuclear power technologies abroad despite its policy of weaning the nation off nuclear power.
The government is readjusting the nation’s dependence on nuclear power out of its power generation while strengthening policies to invest big into new and renewable energies. Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu met with his French counterpart Nicolas Hulot in Paris on Nov. 28 and signed MOUs on cooperation in energy resources and nuclear power decommissioning.
The Korean and French ministers shared the view on the need for joint efforts with neighboring countries to address environmental issues. Both sides agreed to cooperate on the expansion of new and renewable energies. Korea and France have decided to form an energy resources cooperation committee and hold its inaugural meeting next year to discuss such issues as new and renewable energies, smart grid, energy efficiency, and nuclear power decommissioning.
The Korean government is stepping on the gas to export Korean nuclear power technologies. MOTIE Minister Paik met with British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Greg Clark in London on Nov. 27 and signed an MOU for closer ties between the two countries in the nuclear energy sector. The two discussed ways of expanding cooperation in the nuclear power sector, ranging from construction and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and promoting technological cooperation as part of efforts to prepare for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The two Ministers also exchanged views on the competitive edge of Korea over other rivals in building the U.K’s new nuclear power plants abroad.
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