Here is something that is becoming an increasingly large industry for South Korea:

President Lee Myung-bak will visit the United Arab Emirates today to make a last big push for Korea to win the largest nuclear power plant contract in the Middle East.

According to the Blue House, Lee will meet with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his two-day stay in Abu Dhabi.

The summit takes place as the six-month-long competition to win the contract nears an end. Lee hopes to give the final push to seal the deal.

While the deal’s final price tag has not been determined, industry sources estimated that the project will be worth tens of trillions of won. If Korea wins the project, it will be the largest plant construction export in the country’s history. A consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation entered the competition in May. Hyundai Engineering and Construction and Samsung C&T Corporation are members of the consortium.

Other bidders were a consortium led by French nuclear energy giant Areva and another consortium of General Electric of the United States and Hitachi of Japan.

After a series of reviews, the Korean and French bidders made it to the final round.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

I wish the US had a government that promoted the use of nuclear energy like Korea’s does.

Korea is also a contender to build a nuclear power plant in Jordan as well as a large expansion of nuclear power plants within Korea that was announced last year.