Government postpones report to National Assembly due to difficulties in investment negotiations with the US

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Chang-yong = It was found that the government postponed the report to the National Assembly as it was unable to resolve differences of opinion surrounding the nuclear power plant type and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing project during investment negotiations with the United States.

According to the government and political circles on the 17th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy requested the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee and the Finance and Economic Planning Committee the previous day to postpone the National Assembly report schedule scheduled for today.

As the report to the National Assembly is postponed, the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and project announcement for the first investment in the United States worth $200 billion (approximately 272 trillion won), which were expected as early as the 18th, are also expected to be postponed.

The originally planned plan to announce it as early as this week has virtually been cancelled.

A ruling party official said, "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is reporting to the National Assembly before the final conclusion of the MOU, but since the negotiations have not yet been completed, the reporting schedule has been postponed. If (the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) says that it is roughly finished, the reporting date will be rescheduled."

The key background is differences of opinion in the nuclear power plant field. South Korea and the United States have been coordinating a plan to construct six of the eight large nuclear power plants to be built in the U.S. with the AP1000, a Westinghouse model, and two with the APR1400 developed by Korea.

However, it is known that the U.S. government and Westinghouse are having difficulty in building the Korean APR1400 in their country and are having difficulties in last-minute negotiations.

APR1400 has passed design certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), so there are no technical obstacles. However, it is analyzed that the United States is wary that the position of AP1000, the main model in the home market, may be shaken.

An industry official said, "If APR1400 is built, the U.S. will have fewer opportunities to win orders from its own nuclear power plant companies," and added, "It will not be easy for the Trump administration to choose the Korean model ahead of the midterm elections in November."

The nuclear power plant issue is also linked to the issue of shares and voting rights in Westinghouse.

In order to improve the unfavorable contract conditions entered into when winning the Czech nuclear power plant order and to secure competitiveness in winning overseas nuclear power plant orders in the future, Korea has requested substantial voting rights, including around 20% of shares and participation in the board of directors.

On the other hand, the United States is said to be sticking to its stance of only allowing minority participation of 5-10% without voting rights.

Here, investment in the pyroprocessing business, a method of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, has emerged as a new variable.

An official from the ruling party said, "During the course of investment negotiations with the United States, the United States proposed investment in a pyroprocessing business to process spent nuclear fuel generated from nuclear power plants in the United States."

Pyroprocessing is a dry reprocessing technology that recovers uranium and transuranium elements by treating spent nuclear fuel through an electrochemical reaction in molten salt at 500 to 650 degrees Celsius. It is known that over 95,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel was accumulated in the United States as of last year.

However, the government is concerned because if additional funds are invested in this project, the total amount of investment in the United States could exceed the $200 billion investment limit agreed upon in last year's tariff negotiations. Moreover, the government's calculations have become complicated as the United States is linking this project to the nuclear enrichment issue.

Korea, which needs to secure nuclear enrichment technology to commercialize small modular nuclear power plants (SMRs), which is considered the best way to solve the artificial intelligence (AI) power shortage, is caught in a dilemma.

In addition, it is reported that issues such as guaranteeing power demand for the Texas gas-fired combined cycle power plant, which is expected to be the first investment project in the United States, whether to incorporate the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and distribution of profits and losses by project are still issues at the negotiation table.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "We are in close consultation with the United States, and it is taking time to find a point of contact. We will do our best to negotiate from the perspective of national interest until the end."