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| President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a speech during a dinner with ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. PPP lawmakers gathered there for a two-day event to discuss ways to achieve unity and exchange ideas about key agendas ahead of the National Assembly's regular session. |
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday congratulated Korea's state-run energy company for winning a deal to construct turbine islands under the El Dabaa nuclear power plant project in Egypt, saying the contract proves Seoul's technological prowess in the nuclear power plant industry.
In a posting on Facebook, Yoon stressed that the "massive deal" won by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is "an achievement that came 13 years after Korea won a contract to build nuclear power plants in Barakah, the United Arab Emirates."
"Our world-class competitiveness (in the nuclear power plant industry) did not happen overnight," Yoon wrote. "It is the outcome of the consistent efforts made by numerous people who dedicated their entire lives for the nuclear power plant industry, and I believe the contract we won this time will surely help restore the nuclear power plant ecosystem (in Korea)."
He also pledged to do his utmost to promote Korea's nuclear power technology worldwide, reiterating his position to fully support the nuclear power industry so it can become an engine of growth for the country.
Yoon's comments are in line with his pledge to scrap the previous Moon Jae-in administration's policy to phase out nuclear power from the country's energy portfolio.
During a press briefing, a senior official at the presidential office said the Yoon administration's decision to scrap the nuclear phase-out policy and commit itself to exports nuclear reactors contributed to Korea winning the deal.
"Korea's top-tier nuclear power technology, which was recognized by the UAE's Barakah project, was demonstrated once again through the latest deal," the official said. "And we believe this will serve as an excellent experience and provide momentum to Korea's efforts to win nuclear power plant contracts from the Czech Republic, Poland and Saudi Arabia."
Under the deal, which was signed in Cairo, KHNP will supply equipment and construct turbine buildings for Egypt's first nuclear power plant project in El Dabaa, 300 kilometers northwest of Cairo. The project, led by Russia's Atomstroyexport, plans to build a total of four 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactors.
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