Korea’s KHNP wins project for tritium removal plant in Romania

State-backed Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) has won a €200 million order to build a tritium removal facility (TRF) at a nuclear power plant in Romania.

This is the second nuclear equipment export contract under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, following an order for the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant project in Egypt.

The South Korean government hopes that the supply of high-value export work will revitalize the domestic nuclear ecosystem, which has struggled in recent years.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Tuesday that KHNP has won a project worth 195 million euros (about 260 billion won) to build a tritium removal facility in Romania. The facility will be located in Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

The order amounted to about 38 percent of South Korea's total exports to Romania of $530 million last year.

The project period is from July this year to August 2027, and KHNP will be responsible for design, equipment supply, construction and commissioning.

The facility separates tritium through a catalytic reaction from heavy water, which is used as a moderator and coolant in nuclear power plants, and stores it in a safe form in a dedicated facility.

They can significantly reduce the amount of radioactive waste produced.

Globally, only two countries, South Korea and Canada, are commercially operating tritium removal facilities.

The South Korean government believes that the signing of the second nuclear equipment export contract under the Yoon administration, following last year's $3 trillion order for the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt, will allow it to maintain strong momentum toward achieving its national goal of exporting 10 nuclear power plants by 2030.

Write to Sul-Gi Lee at surugi@hankyung.com