South Korea wins $40 billion UAE nuclear deal
Compiled by Salman Ansari Javid

South Korea said on Sunday it had won a $20 billion deal from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build four nuclear reactors, one of the world's biggest nuclear power contracts.

A South Korean consortium expects to earn another $20 billion by jointly operating the reactors for 60 years.

According to the Korean Herald the contract was signed at the end of a summit between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, president of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the Emirates Palace hotel, the UAE president said the deal marked “a new stage of strategic partnership” between the UAE and South Korea.”

Lee arrived in the emirates on Saturday for a two-day visit to support Korea’s bid for the Persian Gulf Arab world’s first civilian nuclear reactor.

According to Reuters the figures are in line with what industry sources told the news agency earlier on Sunday.

The first reactor will be completed in 2017 to produce power and the others will be completed by 2020, the Korean presidential office and official resident Blue House also said in a statement.

The Korean consortium includes Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Samsung C&T Corp., Doosan Heavy Industries as well as Westinghouse Electric Co., of the U.s. and Toshiba Corp. of Japan.

The KEPCO lead group beat a French team led by industry leader Areva SA, a General Electric-Hitachi alliance, GdF Sue SA, Elecricite de France S.A. and Total SA. The announcement marks the end of a year-long, high-stakes commercial and diplomatic endeavor.

The UAE has said it will import all fuel for its nuclear reactors and not to enrich uranium or reprocess used nuclear fuel, allaying Western concerns about uranium enrichment facilities being used for making weapons-grade material.

The UAE’s program could trigger a race among Persian Gulf Arab states for atomic energy resources to meeting surging electricity demand.

According to analysts nuclear power could put the UAE in a position to export electricity via the Persian Gulf Arab power grid in the future. Currently only Qatar has excess electricity generation capacity for export but its economy and power capacity is relatively small in comparison to other Persian Gulf countries.

The UAE, the world’s third largest oil exporter, expects surging power demand from around 15,000 megawatts in 2008 to 40,000 MW in 2020 as oil wealth drives population and economic growth.

For South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy, this deal paves the way to prove its nuclear power generation technologies on the global market.

The South Korean government aims to develop nuclear reactors with 100 percent proprietary technology by 2012 to achieve its export aims.

South Korea began its nuclear power generation in 1978, building its first plant based 100 percent upon U.S. technology. Since then, it has developed the technology to build about 95 percent of a standard nuclear power plant, industry experts have said.

Today South Korea has the world’s sixth-largest atomic power generation capacity. The nation operates 20 nuclear reactors to provide 40 percent of its power needs and plans to build eight more plants.

Korea’s major export items to the UAE include automobiles, mobile phones and electronic appliances. Korean firms are active in infrastructure construction in the Emirates. The UAE’s major shipments include crude petroleum, naphtha and LPG.

Photo: South Korean companies Sunday won one of the world's largest nuclear power plant deals, estimated to be worth $40 billion, in the United Arab Emirates