KEPCO demands cautious but quick approach in buying into Toshiba

By Lim Chang-won Posted : November 2, 2017, 10:19 Updated : November 2, 2017, 10:19

An aerial view of South Korea's largest nuclear power complex near the southern port city of Busan.[Yonhap News Photo]


The head of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), which produces home-made nuclear reactors, called for caution in buying into a nuclear power project involving Japan's Toshiba to build reactors in Britain as it requires state approval.

Japan's Toshiba owns 60 percent of the joint venture named NuGen with the remainder controlled by French utility company Engie. The venture plans to build three reactors, but the Moorside project has been in trouble due to the bankruptcy of Toshiba's U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse Electric.

KEPCO head Cho Hwan-eik said his company has yet to complete "related procedures", although working-level talks have been under way. "Toshiba wants to move quickly along the timeline, while we're approaching carefully by weighing its risk," he said. KEPCO said earlier that terms such as debt and equity should be fixed through talks between Britain and Japan.

Cho said Toshiba showed a strong interest in KEPCO's APR 1400 reactor, which was used for nuclear plants in the United Arab Emirates. Under a $20 billion contract in 2009, South Korea has been building four reactors in the Middle Eastern country.

"I think we should complete related procedures at an early date," Cho told
told reporters on the sidelines of the Bitgaram International Expo of Electric Power Technology, a power industry exhibition hosted by KEPCO.

The state utility company has been under pressure from environmental activists to stop its participation in the Moorside project. Greenpeace insists South Korea is the only OECD member to build more nuclear power plants, running against an international campaign to reduce the use of nuclear energy.

However, public opinion has been split over President Moon Jae-in's "nuclear-exit" policy of phasing out nuclear power plants and replace them with natural gas and renewable energy. The policy clouded prospects for South Korea's nuclear industry, but Moon promised to "actively" support exports of home-made reactors.

South Korea is locked in the race with France, China and Russia to win a Saudi contract on building two reactors. As the world's biggest crude exporter, Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify energy supplies and reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons. Construction will start next year on two plants.


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