Industry ministry links nuclear exports to regulatory cooperation

The industry ministry said Thursday it signed an agreement with the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission for regulatory cooperation in nuclear-power export projects. The ministry cited an unstable global environment and efforts to address climate change as factors renewing attention to nuclear power, while countries including Vietnam and the Philippines move to introduce new reactors.

Countries introducing new reactors must establish laws, licensing procedures and technical standards, as well as capable regulators and safety and security personnel. Until now, the ministry passed regulatory-cooperation requests from export countries to the commission, and the commission and specialist bodies addressed them separately. The International Atomic Energy Agency recommends that buyer countries begin developing regulatory systems and licensing capacity before selecting a technology supplier.

Under the framework, the agencies will regularly share information on project progress, national regulatory conditions and country-specific demand for cooperation. They will draw on South Korea's regulatory experience across the nuclear-power lifecycle to tailor support to countries' conditions and project stages. Alongside the agreement, Korea Electric Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the Korea Nuclear Export Industry Association, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control signed a separate pact. The ministries will set the cooperation direction, while the organizations will develop country-specific tasks. "We will regard the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control as core Team Korea partners and respond comprehensively to cooperation needs in countries introducing new reactors, including Vietnam," Industry Minister Kim Jeong-gwan said.

At a meeting after the signing, participants reviewed projects in Vietnam, the Czech Republic and the Philippines, along with regulatory-cooperation cases in the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic.