S.Arabia, S.Korea agree on commercial nuclear reactors

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Saudi Arabia and South Korea will jointly work on commercialization of medium-small nuclear reactor, Korean media reported.

At a bilateral meeting in Austria, Riyadh and Seoul agreed to jointly work on SMART -- system-integrated modular advanced reactor program -- Yonhap news reported citing South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

Besides, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on comprehensive cooperation in nuclear research and development and a joint atomic energy research center by late 2019, the report added.

The latest developments came after officials from two sides met on the sidelines of a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the Austrian capital Vienna on Tuesday.

"The MOU and the research center agreement strengthen the partnership between South Korea and Saudi Arabia as we move to enter the global market for medium-small nuclear reactors," the report quoted Seoul's First Vice Science Minister Mun Mi-ock as saying after the meeting.

Due to lay the foundation to construct the reactor in Saudi Arabia, both countries invested $130 million for a pre-product engineering project that ran from late 2015 to Nov 2018, said the report.

SMART is an integral-type small reactor developed by the state-run Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and it s has an output of 365 megawatts of thermal power as it is able to generate 110 megawatts of electric power.