energy research

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Click "CC" for Scripts Subscribe to arirang! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=arirangnews Korea is using electricity at a rapidly growing rate, and nuclear power is quenching nearly half of that thirst. Nuclear venture companies are taking advantage of the energy boom, and the government hopes to foster further innovation by building a second nuclear research hub in Daejeon. Our Connie Lee reports. These engineers are working on the latest laser technology, which will be used for a wide- range of applications such as in mobile phone batteries. This venture company specializing in manufacturing laser equipment branched off from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute 10 years ago. An initial staff of four launched the start-up in the Daedeok Nuclear Valley, and the company has grown to more than 80 people with annual sales reaching 17-point-7 million U.S. dollars. Company officials say location played a key role in their success. "To have a fair working relationship with large firms, a company has to secure unique technologies and expand more into more businesses." The Daedeok Nuclear Valley was launched in 2003 in a bid to develop Korea's budding nuclear industry. The research complex currently houses seven companies with 285 employees and combined revenue that has increased 10-fold since its inception. Many nuclear-related firms have moved here to instill healthy competition. To keep the momentum going, the government-funded "Nuclear Tech Biz Center" opened to provide support. "We're doing practical research and it would be good to move closer to similar partners. We're quickly tackling problems and receiving lots of help from our performance teams." Construction for Daejeon's second Nuclear Valley has already broken ground, with plans to accommodate five companies over a 50-thousand square-meter complex. "With regard to nuclear power, you need to have easy and affordable access to basic technologies. Our research support will continue to help with these items and we hope to have a leading role in Korea's creative economy." The state-of-the-art complex hopes to aid in the development and sharing of domestic nuclear technology, along with boosting job creation for Korea's energy hungry economy. Connie Lee, Arirang News Visit us on Homepage http://www.arirang.co.kr Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/arirangworld