South Korea and the US will work together to optimize resistance to nuclear proliferation

Seoul: South Korea will join hands with the US in optimizing resistance to nuclear proliferation in its export research reactors, Seoul’s science ministry said on Monday.

A joint statement from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said the two countries plan to cooperate in the design of research reactors and associated facilities developed by South Korea under the of the NNSA’s Proliferation Resistance Optimization-X (PRO-). X) program, the ministry said.

Proliferation resistance refers to a characteristic of a nuclear energy system that prevents the diversion or diversion of nuclear material, or the misuse of technology for the purpose of acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosives, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

It is intended to maintain the security and peaceful use missions of these systems, reports Yonhap news agency.

The two countries expect that their cooperation will help other countries develop and operate research reactors according to the principles of nuclear non-proliferation, the ministry said.

In addition, the ministry said South Korea, the US and Japan plan to sign a cooperation memorandum later this week to push for facilitating joint research projects of research institutes and people-to-people exchanges of the three countries.

The trilateral cooperation plan is part of a follow-up to an agreement reached by President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their Camp David summit last year to strengthen three-way cooperation in almost all areas. including science and technology.

–IANS