South Korea and Saudi Arabia sought to boost their cooperation in nuclear energy Monday in a meeting attended by their energy ministers.

“The nuclear technology advanced by South Korea will be of a great help to Saudi Arabia in its project to build nuclear power plants,” Seoul’s Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick said, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest supplier of petroleum, plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors by 2032 as a way of diversifying its energy structure that currently depends solely on petroleum gas and oil, according to the ministry.

At the meeting, Seoul’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. offered support for the localization of nuclear technology, along with joint research and development of nuclear technologies following Riyadh’s purchase of South Korean reactors.

Noting the recent exposure of a nuclear reactor scandal here, in which substandard reactor parts had been supplied and used under fake quality certificates in 2008, South Korean officials said it will be a chance to boost the country’s quality control of nuclear reactor parts to the world’s highest level, according to the ministry. (Yonhap News)