This undated file photo, provided by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, shows the Shin-Hanul 1 and 2 nuclear reactors in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. Yonhap

Korea will provide 150 billion won ($103.1 million) worth of financial support this year to businesses in the nuclear power plant industry to promote sustainable development of the promising sector, the industry ministry said Monday.

The fund will be used to support the local nuclear power plant ecosystem with an aim of strengthening the competitiveness of Korean companies, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, amid growing demands for electricity sparked by a boom in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and calls for carbon neutrality.

The ministry said it has increased this year's budget by 50 billion won from 2024 to respond to increasing demand for investment in the sector on the back of nuclear power plant exports in recent years and the move to build new power plants here.

The country won a 3 trillion-won deal in 2022 to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt and a 260 billion-won deal the following year to build a nuclear power facility in Romania.

Korea is also working to construct the third and fourth Shin-Hanul nuclear reactors by 2032 and 2033, respectively, in Uljin, about 220 kilometers east of Seoul. (Yonhap)