Anchor: Amid the growing worldwide trend towards nuclear decommissioning, the South Korean government has rolled out measures to shift the focus of the country's nuclear industry from construction to safe dismantlement and turning the industry into one of the nation's future growth engines.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: In a blueprint unveiled on Wednesday, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy vowed to foster the country's nuclear decommissioning industry with the goal of taking up to ten percent of the global market by the mid-2030s.

The ministry said that amid the expansion of the global nuclear decommissioning market, estimated to be worth around five-point-five trillion won, it expects the industry to become a future growth engine for the country's energy sector.

Officials hope to gain the required technology, human resources and industrial ecosystem from the country's atomic energy phaseout plan which is set to begin in 2022.

Under the plan, South Korea will increase the portion of renewable energy in its power portfolio from seven to 20 percent by 2030, and reduce the number of commercial nuclear reactors from 24 to 14 units by 2038.

Ahead of the decommissioning process for the Kori-1 reactor, which is expected to start in 2022, the ministry plans to establish research centers in the country's southeastern region by the second half of 2021 to focus on advancing and commercializing related technologies.

The government also seeks to re-educate experts on nuclear decommissioning and support related companies' transition into the industry by allocating 50 billion won. 

After gaining knowledge through the Kori-1 reactor project, Seoul hopes the country's firms will team up with advanced countries to win bids in a third country by the late 2020s.

The government's ultimate goal is for South Korean firms to win independent bids by the late 2030s.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.