Construction site of Units 3 and 4 at Saeul Nuclear Power Site in Ulsan's Ulju-gun County. (Nuclear Safety and Security Commission)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Yeongdeok-gun County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, and Gijang-gun County of Busan have been chosen the sites for the construction of three nuclear power plants.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power on June 17 said a meeting of its evaluation committee for the selection of new nuclear power plant sites decided on the area around Yeongdeok-gun to build two nuclear plants and the Gijang-gun region for the country's first small modular reactor (SMR).

The reactors in Yeongdeok-gun will each have a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts and produce enough electricity to power an estimated six million households. The SMR in Gijang-gun will have a capacity of about 0.7 gigawatts, or half of that of one large plant.

Construction of the three facilities will start in 2031. The SMR is slated for completion by 2035 and the two other plants in 2037 and 2038.

dusrud21@korea.kr