Netherlands signs deal for Korean-made research reactor

The first export contract for Korean-made research reactor to Europe has been sealed. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning signed the contract yesterday at the Blue House, with President Park Geun-hye and Dutch King Willem-Alexander attending the ceremony. The contract will have the Korean consortium the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (Kaeri), Hyundai E&C and Hyundai Engineering undertake construction worth 19 million euros ($23.7 million).

The team will expand the existing research reactor’s capacity and build a new neutron research facility at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands by 2018. The Korean consortium won the bid after competing against the world’s largest nuclear company, Areva of France, and a German-Russian team.

Construction will begin in May and be completed by early 2018.