South Korea exports test data of new nuclear fuel pellets to US

South Korea has agreed to provide valuable data from its test of an indigenous nuclear fuel pellet to a U.S. institute, confirming the superiority of its new technology, the country's science ministry said Monday. The information will be provided to the United States' Electric Power Institute until 2017 in exchange for US$630,000, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. A nuclear fuel pellet must contain a small amount of additives that help boost the stability of the fissile material inside the pellet, but also reduce the efficiency of the nuclear fuel at the same time. The new pellet developed indigenously by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) contains a very small amount of additives, making it one of the most efficient fuel pellets. The new fuel pellet is expected to be commercialized in 2015. "We believe the export of the test data will help create a basis for future exports of the pellet by promoting the superiority of our technology for fuel pellets that was developed indigenously," KAERI said in a released statement. "We believe it will also provide an opportunity to boost our cooperation with other international research groups."