Saudi Arabia and South Korea to cooperate in nuclear regulation

A memorandum of understanding aimed at promoting cooperation on nuclear safety regulation was recently signed between South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at promoting cooperation on nuclear safety regulation was recently signed between South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE).

The signing of the MOU (Image: KA-CARE)

The MOU was signed by NSSC chairman Kim Yong Hwan and KA-CARE vice president Waleed bin Husain Abulfaraj on 22 November at KA-CARE's headquarters in Riyadh.

In a statement, KA-CARE said, "The MOU aims at exchanging experiences and practices in the areas of regulating nuclear safety, safeguards and physical protection, radiation protection and relevant research, as well as development in a manner to serve atomic energy programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

During the signing ceremony and at a bilateral meeting that followed, Kim and Abulfaraj shared information on nuclear safety policy and regulatory systems. They also discussed how future cooperation may be expanded, as well as technological collaboration, the training of human resources in the field of nuclear regulations and information sharing.

The two countries will now establish a joint working group to implement the MOU.

In a 25 November statement, NSSC said the MOU is "an invaluable achievement accomplished after five years of discussions through which the NSSC and KA-CARE had agreed on the importance of mutual cooperation and had in-depth talks". It added, "Building a platform of cooperation where we can share and discuss matters of common interest with the Middle East, this MOU holds great significance. It is also expected to play an imperative role in facilitating bilateral cooperations in the region."

The MOU followed an inter-governmental agreement the two countries signed in November 2011 on cooperation in the development and implementation of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In March 2015, South Korea and Saudi Arabia signed an MOU to jointly promote the SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) in the global market. In September 2015, contracts were signed between the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and KA-CARE to support their cooperation in developing the reactor.

Saudi Arabia has also signed nuclear cooperation agreements with Argentina, China, Finland, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News