Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) will deepen cooperation with Westinghouse, a leading American supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies, to jointly advance into the global nuclear power plant market.

The two signed a strategic agreement for joint participation in the global business of large type reactors (AP1000) at Hyundai E&C’s Seoul headquarters on Tuesday, and the signing ceremony was attended by Yoon Young-Joon, CEO of Hyundai E&C, and David Durham, President of Westinghouse`s Energy Systems Business.

The agreement comes as the summits of Korea and U.S. agreed to explore export opportunities in reactors in joint venture between Korea and U.S. companies.

The strategic collaboration will bring an opportunity for Hyundai E&C to access the global large nuclear power plant sector with the U.S. nuclear engineering giant while enhancing its own EPC capability for various nuclear reactor types including the AP1000 model.

Under the agreement, Hyundai E&C has secured exclusive rights to cooperation in next-generation nuclear power plant business through project-specific contracts in the global market and to preferential negotiations in the EPC field. The agreement will help lay the foundation for sustainable future projects and a diverse business portfolio related to the company’s future energy business.

Westinghouse, founded in 1886, is a global company to cover nuclear reactors and engineering services to more than 50 percent of nuclear power plants worldwide.

Hyundai E&C entered the nuclear power plant construction market in 1971 when it and Westinghouse jointly built the Gori 1 plant, Korea’s first nuclear power plant.

The large reactor model AP1000 is an improved pressurized light water reactor with third generation plus technology that has been licensed in many countries.

The basic reactor design improves economics by reducing the number of parts, pipes, and cables with greatly increased safety with a passive safety system. It is also possible to shorten the construction period with a modular design approach.

By Seo Chan-dong and Minu Kim

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