South Korea to establish joint nuclear research centre in Saudi Arabia

South Korea plans to set up a joint nuclear energy research centre in Saudi Arabia, the South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology said.

The project aims to boost cooperation between the two countries in the field of nuclear energy research and development, Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday.

The agency noted that the two countries are expected to sign an agreement to establish the centre after administrative procedures have been completed.

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The ministry explained that “the agreement came at the bilateral nuclear commission meeting held in Riyadh”, adding that at Monday’s meeting, there was broad exchange on the SMART, or System-Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor programme, “after the completion of the $130 million pre-project engineering endeavour carried out by the two sides from 2015 through 2018”.

The ministry expects the establishment of the Joint Research Centre to lay the foundation for long-term research cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the development of domestic nuclear energy technology.

During the meeting, the two countries agreed on technical cooperation to support the creation and licensing of a small smart nuclear reactor and the development of the next generation of SMART.