South Korea will work to bolster its nuclear energy industry to join global efforts to expand the use of nuclear power as a clean energy source, its science ministry said Friday.
Science Minister Lee Jong-ho made the remarks at the Nuclear Energy Summit 2024 held in Belgium on Thursday (local time), attended by 38 pro-nuclear countries, including the United States, Japan, China and Britain, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The summit, the first multilateral international gathering in the nuclear energy field, was aimed at discussing measures to support innovation of the nuclear energy industry in response to climate change, strengthen energy security and promote economic development.
South Korea’s commitment to nuclear energy expansion came after its participation in the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, where it was one of 22 countries to sign a joint declaration advocating for a tripling of nuclear energy by 2050.
“As a country with the world’s fifth-largest nuclea
r energy generation capacity, South Korea has been pushing to expand nuclear power to join the international community’s plan,” Science Minister Lee said.
He said South Korea will make investment to develop small modular reactor (SMR) and other technologies to help the international community to reach its nuclear energy expansion target and respond to heightening electricity demand in the era of artificial intelligence, according to the science ministry.
Lee also called for international support to promote the Carbon-Free Energy Initiative, or CFE, proposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol during his keynote speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September.
The initiative calls for promoting an active use of nuclear power and green hydrogen as alternative energy resources to better achieve global carbon neutrality goals.
Source: Yonhap News Agency