Nuclear Silk Road: Koreanization of Nuclear Power Technology - Paperback

by Kim Byung-Koo (Author)

The news out of Abu Dhabi on Dec. 27, 2009 was the direct motivation to write this book. South Korean consortium has just won the largest single nuclear power plant construction project in recent years to deliver four state-of-the-art Generation III pressurized water reactors to the United Arab Emirates. This book will bring to life the agonizing process of pursuing peaceful nuclear energy in South Korea during the last half-century for the "Atoms for Peace" dream from a poor developing country. Particular focus is placed on the localization process of nuclear power technology since 1980 from an insider's view. This case study on the Korean nuclear power technology could shed some light for other nations as they enter the brave new world of nuclear renaissance. Once on the Silk Road countries like China, India, UAE and Turkey show the most active nuclear power programs together with Japan and Korea today. After all, history repeats itself as new technologies transfer through the Nuclear Silk Road, crossing civilizations.

Author Biography

Kim Byung-koo ("BK") studied at the Seoul National University and the University of Michigan before receiving his doctorate in applied mechanics from the California Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, Dr. Kim worked as a test engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California until he returned to Korea when the country was embarking on its first nuclear power project. He served as the project manager of the nation's first nuclear power reactor system design project at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in the 1980s. He then served as a Director of Technical Cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, assisting many developing countries to promote their peaceful uses of nuclear energy. After retirement, he currently lives in Daejeon, Korea. Nuclear Silk Road is his first book.