COUNTRY PAPER
By
H.E. Dr. Ho Koon Park
Minister of Science and Technology
Republic of Korea
At the 4th FNCA Ministerial Meeting
3 December 2003
Okinawa, Japan

Prof. Yoichi Fuji-ie, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission,
H.E. Mr. Dato’ Law Hieng Ding, Minister of Science, Technology andEnvironment, Malaysia
Her Execellency Dr. Estrella Fagela Alabastro, Minister of Science andTechnology, The Philippines,H.E. Mr. Zhang Huazhu, Chairman of China Atomic Energy Authority,
Distinguished Delegates from the FNCA Member Countries;
It is my great pleasure to attend this Fourth FNCA Ministerial Meeting herein Okinawa. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to theGovernment of Japan, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, and the Okinawa
Prefecture for organizing this meeting so excellently.
Taking this opportunity, as the host of the Third FNCA Ministerial Meetingin Seoul in October 2002, I would like to thank all the FNCA Member
Countries for their valuable support in leading the Third FNCA Seoul
Ministerial Meeting to a successful conclusion.

At the last FNCA Meeting in Seoul, we shared our views on the necessity
for nuclear knowledge preservation as a preparatory measure for inducing
the second nuclear Renaissance. We formulated a high level task group forthe human resources survey. We also emphasized the importance of1

cooperation in the areas of radiation application, research reactor training
and medical technology development with benefits for a better life in Asia.
Korea proposed to establish an “Asian Mutual Fund for Nuclear Liability”
for securing a compensation mechanism related to the operation of nuclear
power plants.
Distinguished Delegates;
Nuclear energy has been one of the most important energy option in thepast, present and it will be in the future. To this end, world nuclear
community is pursuing extensive global collaboration. While past nuclear
technology has grown on a national basis, various atomic energy
international joint development schemes are under negotiation.
Generation-IV reactor program is progressing through the International
Forum (GIF) since 2001 with the participation of 10 countries from aroundthe world. This program is preparing for a future reactor to be used as oneof the major energy sources in 2030. IAEA also initiated an innovative
reactor project, called INPRO (International Project on Innovative Nuclear
Reactors and Fuel Cycles), which collects users’ requirements for the newreactor concept and explores technology information exchange systemamong the IAEA’s Member States. The ITER (InternationalThermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project for fusion energy is anotherchallenge for all of us. It is now at the final stage of consultation for a site
selection and role assignment.
Based upon the accumulation of nuclear science and technology during thepast 50 years, the world expects a wide spectrum of atomic energy
applications in the 21st century. They are seawater desalination, district
heating, hydrogen production along with electricity production, andradiation technology (RT). Especially, the RT market is forecasted to beup to 1.2 trillion US dollars in 2010.
The scope for the utilization of radiation and radioisotope will be expanded
into not only water resources management, food preservation,
environmental protection and public health, but also technology fusion withthe promising high-tech areas of BT, NT, IT and ST.

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Distinguished Delegates;
Let me now introduce a brief overview on the atomic energy developmentof Korea since the 2002 meeting.
Nuclear energy has been one of the major growth engines for the Koreaneconomy. Korea has 18 nuclear power plants in commercial operation
supplying 40% of the nation's electricity. 8 more nuclear power plants will
be constructed by 2015. 4 units will be the Korean Standard Nuclear Power
Plants with a capacity of 1,000MWe, and 4 units will be the Advanced
Power Reactor with a capacity of 1400MWe (APR1400).
In the case of small and medium sized nuclear reactors, active research
efforts have been devoted to the 300MW System integrated Modular
Advanced ReacTor (SMART) program. SMART can be utilized forseawater desalination as well as power production. Its pilot plant will becommissioned by 2008. Currently, the Korea/Indonesia/IAEA tri-party
cooperation project for SMART’s feasibility on the Madura Island is underimplementation. Korea is ready to share SMART-related technology andexperience with Member States of the FNCA.
Furthermore Korea strives for expediting RT development. Currently,
Electron accelerator technology for industrial wastewater purification isbeing commercialized. The pilot plant with a capacity of treating 1,000 tonsof dye wastewater will be constructed in collaboration with the IAEA.
The Korea/IAEA joint training center for electron accelerator application isto be opened to all IAEA Member States.
In the area of the safety and security of radioactive source materials, Korea
has designed a tracking method using the Global Positioning System (GPS)attached to radiological source containers. We hope the FNCA Member
States will join this new real time detection system against the lostradiation source materials.
Recently, Korea has enacted two new legislations to cope with thechanging environment of atomic energy. The "Law on Radiation andRadioisotope", promulgated in December 2002, aims at promoting theutilization of RT.

3And, the "Law on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Facilities
and the Measures for a Radiological Emergency", enacted in May 2003,
provides a legal framework to help prevent nuclear terror and to establish anation-wide radiological emergency management system.
Honorable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates;
Now, I would like to touch upon the future directions on atomic energy
cooperation in Asia.
As I mentioned earlier, RT needs higher attention, especially, in medical
diagnosis and therapy. The establishment of a stable production anddistribution system of radioisotopes is an essential part for radiation
utilization. In this regards, Korea proposes we consider the joint
construction of a medical isotope producer (MIP) to be used exclusively forthe production of radioisotopes for our common prosperity.
In our region, we are aware that every Member State has its own strong
R&D area and related large-scale research facility. Korea has a 30MW
multipurpose HANARO research reactor, the 1GeV Pohang Light Source
Accelerator and the Korea-Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research(K-STAR) facility. Korea suggests the FNCA devise a Regional Resources
Management Function to assist in the sharing of the large-scale researchfacilities in Asia. This activity will enable us to stimulate our cooperation
spirit among the FNCA Member States and achieve the utmost efficiency
from our regional atomic energy R&D capacity.
Last but not least, I would like to reemphasize the importance of education
for the next generation. Korea hopes the "Asian Nuclear Students
Interchange Program" for fostering young atomic energy specialists in ourregion be developed. Through this new academic network, I believe future
young nuclear students in Asia will be able to study at any competentacademic institution in their interested subject areas.

Distinguished Delegates;

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When Korea was faced with a financial crisis several years ago, nuclear
energy continued to provide us with a stable supply of electricity at a lowcost. That was the major driving force behind Korea overcoming the crisis
in such a short period of time. This proved to us that nuclear is a realisticenergy source with the characteristic energy security.
The economic growth rate of Asia was around 6.4% in 2002. Asia is thefastest growing region in the world. Nuclear energy will surely serve as anengine putting the Asian economy on a solid foundation. Korea is very
willing to share its expertise and experiences in the developing nuclear
energy technologies with the other Asian countries.
With these remarks, I would like to appreciate once again the dedicatedefforts of Japan in preparing this 4th meeting as a successful forum.

Thank you very much.

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