This week, experts from the Department of Nuclear Reactors of the FNSPE, CTU took over a new device from the Korean company KHNP – an APR1000 reactor simulator designed by the firm for the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. CTU acquired a powerful and realistic model for teaching reactor physics as part of extensive scientific and educational cooperation between CTU and Korean partners from nuclear companies, scientific institutes and educational institutions. The simulator from KHNP will be used not only by students of the Department of Nuclear Reactors, but they will also include activities on the simulator in educational courses organized by the Department.
KHNP is also currently developing a bachelor's, master's and doctoral program in cooperation with CTU, which aims to educate a new generation of experts focused on the operation of nuclear power plants. In this way, the Korean company is trying to contribute to ensuring that even after the completion of the new nuclear units, there will be enough manpower necessary for their operation in the Czech Republic.
KHNP has been active in the field of science and research in the Czech Republic since 2016. In 2020, the first joint energy research project of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and the Korean Institute for Evaluation and Planning of Energy Technologies (KETEP) was launched under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Korea industry, trade and energy.
The current joint energy research project is the second of its kind and was launched in 2022. On the Korean side, in addition to KHNP, Kepco International Nuclear Graduate School (KINGS) and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) are also collaborating on research.
The research is expected to be completed in 2025. Representatives of all stakeholders met for the last time in April of this year at a joint symposium in Prague to evaluate the project's results so far.
