Kim Keun-Kyeong is appointed as the Head of Construction Domain

Kim Keun-Kyeong, former director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), was appointed head of Construction Domain of ITER, whose mission is to contribute to the resolution of global warming and energy problems, which are common goals of humanity, by completing the ITER in a timely manner.

ITER, an international joint project promoted by 35 countries around the world, is expected to be completed by 2025, with the goal of confirming the possibility of large-scale energy production using nuclear fusion, which is the principle of solar energy. That is, the project will verify the possibility of commercialization of nuclear fusion. Since the full-scale kick-off of the project in 2006, construction has reached a 70% completion rate and, at the site, the structure construction for the Tokamak Building is nearing completion. When the Tokamak Building is completed, components of ITER, which will soon become the largest artificial sun in human history, will begin to be assembled piece by piece. The upcoming five years will be a critical milestone for the construction of ITER, in which all efforts made so far will be put together.

To this end, the ITER Organization converted the organization, which was largely divided into two parts, technology and administration, into a four-domain system under the Director General, including domains of construction, science & operation, engineering, and Corporate, in January 2020. Kim Keun-Kyeong, former director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, was finally appointed as the head of the construction domain to take charge of completing the construction of the ITER device.

Domain head Kim graduated from the Department of Architectural Engineering at Hanyang University and joined KEPCO to construct the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the Korean Standard Thermal Power Plant, Wolseong Nuclear Power Plants 2, 3, and 4, the Qinshan nuclear power phase 3 heavy water-type nuclear power plant in China, the design Improved Standard Nuclear Power Plant (OPR1000), foreign exporttype next-generation nuclear power plant (KNGR, APR1400), etc., accumulating experience in various aspects of design and construction. In addition, he has participated in the construction of as many as 12 projects and 25 power plants in Korea alone, serving as the Head of the Construction Technology Division, the Head of Plant Construction Technology Research Laboratory, and the Director of Public Relations and Exhibition at KHNP; he has also participated in overseas nuclear power plaA nuclear power plant is designed in consideration of high temperature, high pressure, and high-level radioactivity. It requires high stability to enable continuous operation, so as not to cause a single crack of the building even during an earthquake. Although ITER is a low-radiation device, standards as strict as those used for nuclear power plants, such as cryogenic and vacuum requirements, are applied. As such, based on his experience in the construction of nuclear power plants, Mr. Kim is committed to operating the construction site in cooperation with related experts, taking 'loyalty, excellence, trust, integrity, team-oriented mindset, diversity, and inclusiveness' as the core principles of ITER construction.nt constructions in China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Construction site of ITER in Cadarache, southern France