Regions with Nuclear Plants Receive Over 2 Trillion Won in Benefits... 10 Trillion Won Investment Boosts Contractors and Partners

A Decade in Construction:
Each Nuclear Reactor Requires a Workforce of 6 Million
Significant Ripple Effects on Production, Employment, Local Government Finances, and Regional Economies
Large-Scale Industrial Ecosystem Formed During Construc

Nuclear power plant construction is not simply a power plant development project. It typically takes more than 10 years from planning to permitting, groundbreaking, and completion, and is an ultra-large investment project that involves a cumulative workforce of about six million people per unit of the Korean-type large nuclear reactor (APR1400). Due to its significant impact on production, employment, local finances, and regional economies, it is considered a representative national infrastructure project.

Regions where nuclear power plants are established receive various forms of support. According to the Act on Assistance to Areas Surrounding Power Plants, basic support projects, special support projects, and business operator support projects are implemented. Additionally, local resource facility taxes, which are local taxes, and support related to disaster prevention under the Act on Physical Protection and Radiological Emergency Preparedness for Nuclear Facilities, provide considerable financial assistance to local governments.

Yeongdeok-gun in North Gyeongsang Province, selected as the construction site for two nuclear reactors, will receive 2% of the construction cost as a special support grant. Based on the construction cost of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 (about 11.7 trillion won), this amounts to approximately 230 billion won. In addition, it is expected that basic support funds and business operator support funds totaling about 640 billion won, which will be paid over 60 years after the reactors begin operation, and local resource facility taxes of about 1.1 trillion won, will be provided. The combined total of support funds and tax revenue effects is expected to reach around 2 trillion won.

Busan's Gijang-gun, where the first domestic commercial Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is scheduled to be built, is also projected to generate an economic effect of approximately 790 billion won, including support funds and local taxes.

The economic ripple effects of nuclear power plant construction have also been confirmed in academic research. According to a paper published in 2023 in Energy Economics Research by Kim Ji-hwan, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, and Professor Kim Yoon-kyung of Ewha Womans University's Department of Economics, the production inducement coefficient for one APR1400 unit was analyzed at 1.968, and the employment inducement coefficient at 10.065 people per 1 billion won invested. This means that investing 10 trillion won in nuclear power plant construction would generate about 19.68 trillion won in production inducement effect and direct and indirect employment for about 100,000 people.

'2024 Nuclear Power Generation White Paper'

Another study comparing the production inducement effects of different power generation sources found that the production inducement coefficient for nuclear power was 1.956, higher than that of combined cycle gas power (1.898) and coal-fired power (1.176). This is why nuclear power is evaluated as an industry with significant economic ripple effects, even among power generation sources.

At actual construction sites, a large-scale industrial ecosystem involving hundreds of companies is formed. For example, the recently completed Shin Hanul Units 1 and 2 required a total project cost of about 10 trillion won with a cumulative workforce of 5.318 million people over 14 years. Major construction companies such as Hyundai Engineering & Construction, SK Ecoplant, and GS Engineering & Construction, along with 14 key partner firms and more than 300 subcontractors, participated. For the Saeul Units 3 and 4 currently under construction, Doosan Enerbility is responsible for the reactor facilities and turbine generators, with major companies including Samsung C&T, Doosan Enerbility, and Hanwha Ocean, as well as 48 key partner companies involved. In 2023 alone, over 3,400 companies participated in construction at these two sites, with contract amounts totaling about 978 billion won. In equipment supply, more than 4,000 companies were involved, generating approximately 154 billion won in performance.

An official from the nuclear power industry stated, "Hundreds of companies from the construction, machinery, steel, electrical, and instrumentation and control sectors participate in the construction of a single nuclear reactor," adding, "New nuclear power plant construction not only revitalizes the local economy but also injects vitality into the entire domestic manufacturing ecosystem."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.