South Korea and Saudi Arabia will establish a joint venture that will spearhead the construction of Korea’s small modular reactor (SMR) unit in the Middle Eastern country.
The Ministry of Science and ICT signed a revised pre-project engineering contract to jointly set up an entity that will lead the commercialization and construction of a Korea-designed SMR in the oil kingdom with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE).
Korea’s SMR technology, branded as SMART, is a system-integrated modular advanced reactor that is an integral-type small reactor developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The pressurizer, cooling pump, steam generator and core are placed inside the reactor pressure vessel, and the Korea-designed SMR is capable of generating up to 110 megawatts of electricity (MWe) or 365 megawatts thermal (MWt).
Before the launch of the joint venture, tentatively named SMART EPC, the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power will lead projects to refine the reactor, license it for use in Saudi Arabia and build business models and infrastructure, and find ways to export the technology to other countries.
The latest agreement is a revision to the MoU the two sides agreed in September to commercialize the Korea-designed SMR technology. Under the latest contract, the two countries also agreed to shorten the review process to accelerate the construction of the reactor and acquire a standard design approval for easier exports. Roles and responsibilities for approval and financing are elaborated in the contract.
“The latest contract will pave the way for more cooperation between Korea and Saudi Arabia and further help speed up the SMART project,” said an official at the ministry.
Source: Pulse News
