HDEC Trying to Get a Jump-start in Global Nuclear Power Plant Field

CEO Kim is determined to nurture the nuclear power business into one of its next-generation core industries

Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. (HDEC) is going all out to get a jump-start in the global nuclear power plant construction industry, as the Korean giant contractor, which has plentiful experiences and expertise in the construction of 16 nuclear units in Korea, has become part of a Korean team that recently won the $40 billion nuclear power contract from the United Arab Emirates, the largest and first such deal in the Middle East.
Harboring this vision in his mind, HDEC President and CEO Kim Joong-kyum made an observation tour of a barren desert area in Sila, 280 km west of Abu Dhabi, on Jan. 28 as part of his seven-night, eight-day official visit to the Middle East. The area is the site of four 1,400MW-class nuclear power units HDEC will complete by 2017 as the construction partner of the Korean team on the UAE deal.
Braving formidable temperatures of around 40 degrees Centigrade, Kim was briefed on the progress plan of the project from the head of the construction site and discussed ways of supporting the site with officials after touring the nearby coast. He was accompanied by the heads of the HDEC Group head office in Seoul, overseas branch chiefs and heads of sites in the Middle East region.
Kim’s latest move is interpreted as the company’s flat-out efforts to concentrate its capabilities on exploring the global nuclear power market. The fact that HDEC held this year’s first overseas strategic planning meeting in the Middle East signifies the CEO’s determination to nurture the nuclear power business into one of its next-generation core industries.
HDEC set the year’s target for winning overseas orders at $12 billion, nearly three times the estimated $4.5 billion recorded during 2009, indicating a global business strategy focusing on nuclear power.
An HDEC official said the year 2010 will likely see revenues from the overseas business front, which is projected to grow to 5.1 trillion won, surpass those from the domestic business front for the first time since the 1970s when HDEC and other Korean contractors enjoyed the so-called Overseas Construction Boom in the Middle East. HDEC is estimated to post 9.3 trillion won in 2009, less than 4.6 trillion won of which came from overseas business.
Kim told participants of a strategic meeting at the InterContinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 29, “Let’s expand our nuclear power business horizons abroad by capitalizing on experiences and expertise accumulated in our 39-year nuclear power business career in order to make the UAE project a seamless success.” His remark indicated his determination to cultivate the nuclear power business, said to be the “crown of the plant engineering sector,” into one of its next-generation core business portfolios by making the most of its experiences and technological power accumulated while building 12 nuclear units in Korea.
HDEC’s nuclear power business sector has come from strength to strength in keeping with the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung’s legendary creeds ― a challenging spirit and endless passion ― which have enabled the company to be armed with knowhow and technological prowess, on par with those of front-running nuclear powerhouses.
HDEC is a virtual leader of the Korean nuclear power construction industry since it successfully built 12 of the 20 nuclear units in operation in Korea and is now working on four of the six additional units now under construction.
The company entered the domestic nuclear power construction industry when it launched a project to build Kori Unit 1, the nation’s first nuclear power facility, in 1971. At that time, HDEC participated as a subcontractor of Westinghouse’s nuclear power projects, and went on working on the localization of foreign nuclear technologies one after another.
The 1980s was referred to as a period in which HDEC was engaged in acquiring technology and laying a solid foundation for self-sufficiency. During that period, HDEC completed Kori Units 3~6 as a major contractor of the project and secured a foundation for technological self-sufficiency through the construction of Yongkwang Units 1&2.
HDEC is working on Shin Kori Units 1&2, being built with an improved version of the Korean standard nuclear power plant, OPR1000, as well as the projected Shin Kori Units 3&4 with Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400). APR1400, a 1,400MW-class reactor, will be a Korean-type model, which will be employed in the four nuclear units in the UAE. Shin Kori Units with a 1,400MW-class reactor will be top-notch in terms of size and technological prowess because only France, Germany, the United States and Lithuania have a track record of constructing 1,400MW-class nuclear units. nw

(right) Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) President & CEO Kim Joong-kyum. HDEC held a strategic meeting on overseas business to flesh out its role in the nuclear power plant deal with the United Arab Emirates at the InterContinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 29.