Riyadh, Seoul working on compact reactors for nuclear energy

The Kingdom is working closely with South Korea on developing technology for small, compact, nuclear reactors that will help Saudi engineers acquire knowledge in the field and the Kingdom to become a developer, owner and leader in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Working to this end, the Korean Nuclear Energy Research Institute (KNERI) and the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable energy (K.A.CARE) entered a partnership to develop the technology needed to build small compact nuclear reactors and enable the Kingdom to come into the possession of this technology in order to implement it in diversified sustainable energy program.

The first phase of the joint project for compact nuclear reactors began successfully in South Korea, Youngjae Kim, Korean embassy spokesman in Riyadh, said Saturday, adding that this SMART cooperation is one of the projects that was signed in 2015 during the visit to the Kingdom by South Korean President Geun-Hye Park.

Korean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Pyung-oh Kwon welcomed the



success of the first phase of work in nuclear energy and expressed hope in the further progress of the SMART cooperation project with the Kingdom, which intends to become a leader in atomic and renewable energy by exerting efforts to diversify energy sources and, by extension, the economy, a goal set under Saudi Vision 2030.

K.A.CARE had earlier said that it hoped this partnership would enable the Saudization of nuclear knowledge, support value chains and the Kingdom's entry as a developer, owner and exporter of nuclear energy technologies in the future.

It added that the first KNERI-K.A.CARE meeting to review the progress of SMART cooperation was held in the city of Dijon, South Korea. The Korean companies participating in the Smart project took part in the meeting that reviewed the project's timetable and the challenges ahead.

A technical Saudi team is working side by side with KNERI to be able to run the project, getting trained and participating in the preparations of the engineering designs of the compact reactor, said the statement.

The technical output of the contractors were also coordinated during the meeting, to ensure that the project gets completed in time to enable the Korean companies to prepare the engineering designs of the power station expected to be built in the Kingdom for the purpose of producing power and desalinating water.

K.A.CARE specialists participating in the meeting made a summary presentation of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP-2020) in order to familiarize the companies participating in the project with the ambitious vision of the Kingdom. 

The Smart reactor project is one of K.A.CARE initiatives to develop atomic and renewable energy, approved in the NTP-2020.