South Korea and Ukraine sign uranium mining and nuclear power deal

SEOUL (Reuters) - 

South Korea has signed a deal to cooperate in building nuclear power plants and developing uranium with Ukraine, the country's energy ministry said on Sunday.

South Korea will help Ukraine build and operate nuclear power facilities and Ukraine will allow South Korea to join its uranium development projects, according to a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries.

Resource-poor South Korea, which relies on a stable supply of raw material to feed its export-driven economy, is keen to develop mines so that it will be less vulnerable to soaring raw material prices.

Ukraine is the world's ninth-largest producer of uranium, used to fuel most of the world's nuclear reactors.

Nearly 40 percent of energy generated domestically comes from nuclear power plants, the largest single source of power in South Korea.

South Korea's state-run Korea Resources will also seek co-development of copper mines in Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

Separately, South Korea has submitted a letter of intent to join the Tavan-Talgoi project, the largest unmined coking coal deposit in the world, during a visit to Mongolia.

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