Samsung E&C Strengthens Foothold in Nuclear Power Plant Construction
- Has capabilities as a leading nuclear power plant construction

Samsung Engineering & Construction (Samsung E&C) has come out front in the domestic construction industry by taking over a 42-year-old hegemony acquired by Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company. The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said on July 31 that Samsung E&C topped the category of construction capability evaluation with 4,985.4 billion won in construction value, followed by Hyundai E&C with 4,358.4 billion won.
In particular, Samsung E&C's participation in the recently dedicated Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5 highlights a series of achievements the contractor has made in the recent years. On the overseas front, Samsung E&C has already earned a reputation for its construction of the 452-meter-high Petronas Twin Tower at Kuala Lumpur City, a Malaysian landmark, higher than Sears Tower in Chicago. On the domestic front, Samsung E&C was credited with building the nation's most popular apartment brand, Raemian. The company is known for ensuring customer satisfaction as it has received a National Customer Satisfaction Index Award consecutively over past 7 years(1998-2004).
Park Ki-yeon, executive vice president of Head of Plant Division at Samsung E&C, said, "Ulchin Unit 5 has served as an opportunity for Samsung E&C to be equipped with capabilities as one of leading contractors of the future domestic nuclear power plant construction".
In the nuclear power plant construction industry, Park said, Samsung E&C is a latecomer. He recalled that Samsung E&C participated in the construction of Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5 that began in 1997 since Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee instructed Samsung E&C to expand its businesses to the nuclear power industry.
Park noted that despite its first undertaking of a nuclear power plant, Samsung E&C has gained a reputation as a capable nuclear power construction contractor from the building of Ulchin Unit 5 as Samsung E&C played a part in curtailing the construction period by two months. Samsung E&C received the Korea Nuclear Safety Mark from the Ministry of Science and Technology in recognition of improving safety and construction capability in a field of nuclear power plant. Samsung E&C's 10-year bid to foster manpower equipped with expertise have paid off, he said, adding that Samsung E&C employees have been sent to Bechtel and Westinghouse, of the United States, as well as Mitsubishi and Daisei, of the Japan, to undergo training.
Samsung E&C, one of the business units of Samsung Corp., with a sufficient construction experience and expertise, is concentrating its capabilities on core products, and the contractor has attached priority in securing technology and capabilities in the nuclear power plant construction industry, designated as one of its core business arenas
Samsung E&C became one of successful construction contractors of the bidding for the construction of the planned Shinwolsong Unit 1 and 2 and the planned Shinkori Unit 1 and 2, conducted last year, along with such front-runner companies as Hyundai, Daewoo, Doosan and Daelim. Samsung E&C and Daewoo are leading construction contractors of the Shinwolsong unit projects, with LG E&C participating as a new market entrant of the nuclear power plant industry. Hyundai and Daelim are responsible for construction of the Shinkori unit projects, with SK E&C participating as a new market entrant.
The executive vice president said "Samsung E&C is making strenuous efforts to explore such potential markets as Southeast Asian and Eastern European countries." Samsung E&C is seeking to conduct an independent power plant (IPP) project, a joint venture with KEPCO aimed at exploring the overseas power plant construction. Under the proposed project, KEPCO would shoulder operation and management, while Samsung E&C would take on design, procurement and construction. In its mid- and long-term plans to explore the overseas nuclear power plant construction industry, Samsung E&C wants to form a consortium with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), which has sufficient expertise in project management, and contractors with construction capabilities like Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co.
Park said, "Nuclear power generation has contributed to the development of the country and cheaper power generation cost, now being kept at 40 won per kWh equivalent to that during the early 1980s, becomes one of the invisible factors contributing to improving our nation's competitive edge." Nuclear power generation becomes a great boon for Korea as it accounts for some 40 percent in terms of electricity supply, he said.
Now that emissions of six kinds of greenhouse gases for Korea will be restricted from 2013 under the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, advanced countries have now turned to the development of renewable, and alternative energy sources as well as nuclear power generation, he said. A study on developing nuclear fusion energy as an alternative energy source that is feasible theoretically, pending commercialization, according to Park.
Japan is the only country to meet demands in accordance with its own nuclear power development plan, and particularly, France depends on nuclear power generation for satisfying more than 70 percent of its energy demand, he said. In Korea, KEPCO drafts a long-term power development plan every two year, taking into account energy demands and economic growth, according to Park. The newly dedicated Ulchin Unit 5 is the 19th nuclear power unit, now in commercial operation in Korea.
Park recalled that he not only suffered difficulties but also had rewarding moments while he worked for ten years in the Kori Nuclear Power Plant Complex since 1974 when he had been with the construction of the Kori Unit 1. He held positions at the KEPCO headquarters before he was selected as Korea's first expert dispatched to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency for a three-year period between 1988 and 1991. Park said Samsung E&C is the first construction company in Korea to adopt and develop the Six Sigma Management movement since 2002 with the aim of upgrading it as a global player with a competitive edge by concentrating long-term investments on technology training and improving individual capability.
Park said his company implements a Master and Expert systems aimed at upgrading rewards corresponding to specialized technology experiences and abilities under its 2010 vision calling for realizing a global player with a strong competitive edge.

The gist of questions and answers of the interview with Park

Question: Would you elaborate on the recently dedicated Ulchion Unit 5 and the significance of Samsung E&COs participation in the project, and future plans?
Answer: Ulchin Unit 5 is offering a stable supply of electricity after it went into commercial operation on July 29, 2004 following five years and seven months of construction. The unit brought to 19 the number of nuclear plant units in operation, while the addition rose the capacity of nuclear power units to 16,720,000 kW or 29 percent of the nation's total electricity capacity.
KHNP has been in charge of the overall project management, trial operation of construction management of Ulchin Units 5 whose construction got under way simultaneously along with Ulchin Unit 6. Korea Power Engineering Company Inc. took charge of its comprehensive design and system design, while Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. manufactured the reactor, turbine generator and other facilities. The fuel was supplied by Korea Nuclear Fuel Co. and Dong Ah, Doosan, and Samsung E&C jointly participated in the construction of the nuclear power unit.
Samsung Corp. has pushed the Six-Sigma Management movement with the aim of developing Samsung E&C into a world-class contractor with a competitive edge by making long-term investments on technology training in a bid to secure manpower with technology expertise.
The company has focused on core products based on a sufficient construction experience it has acquired. Samsung E&C has exerted itself to secure technology on nuclear power and capabilities after selecting nuclear power as one of the company's core product areas. As part of its efforts to improve technological capabilities, Samsung E&C has promoted exchanges with such companies as Bechtel, Westinghouse, Mitsubishi and Daisei.
Samsung E&C entered the nuclear power construction industry as it landed projects on constructing Ulchin Units 5&6 in 1997. The company was recognized as a company capable of constructing nuclear plants as it has contributed to shortening the construction period of Unit 5 by two months.
Samsung E&C was awarded with the Korea Nuclear Safety Mark by the Ministry of Science and Technology in recognition of improving safety of nuclear power and construction by employing its own technology concerning the installation of a condensate tank through the FCAW welding method. The company has upgraded its profile as it has been assigned with constructing a nuclear power unit, including the Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS), on its own as one of the successful contractors of the bidding for the construction of the planned Sinwolsong Unit 1 & 2.
Q: Could you tell about your company's joint plan to explore the overseas nuclear power construction market?
A: Capitalizing technology it has acquired on the domestic front and the brand power of Samsung, Samsung E&C is pushing strategies differentiating them according to regions aimed at making a foray into the overseas nuclear power construction market.
The company will make strenuous efforts to explore the markets of the developing countries with a potential in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, while building up a business operation infrastructure through its overseas branches. Samsung E&C, as a future export leader of nuclear power technology, is making preparations for spearheading Korea's efforts to explore foreign markets.
Given the character of nuclear power as large-scale projects and the need for securing safety and quality, Samsung E&C is expecting that its joint advance to foreign markets with local companies with a competitive edge, and KHNP with project management know-house will bring about benefits in the mid- and long-term prospective. nw