S. Korean power firm to buy stake in French uranium plant

By Nam Kwang-sik
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), a South Korean
state-run power company, said Monday that it will buy a 2.5-percent stake in a
French uranium enrichment plant to secure a stable supply of uranium.

Under a deal with the French company Areva SA, a state-run builder of nuclear
reactors, KHNP will purchase the stake in the Georges Besse II enrichment plant,
which is being built on the Tricastin nuclear site in the southern part of
France, the Korean company said in a statement.
South Korea imports an anual 400 tons of enriched uranium from the United States,
France, Russia and Britain to operate its nuclear power stations.
South Korea cannot enrich uranium itself due to an existing Seoul-Washington
nuclear power agreement and the Korean Peninsula denuclearization declaration set
up by South and North Korea in 1992.
"The stake purchase will allow us to secure a stable provision of enriched
uranium at a lower price in an emergency situation," KHNP said.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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