South Korea’s presidential transition committee said it plans to change the deadline for nuclear power plant operators to apply for reactor lifetime extensions, paving the way for most of the country’s fleet of 24 units to remain in service for longer.

The application deadline could be changed to up to 10 years before the service life of a reactor ends. According to Business Korea, this would mean life extensions can be requested for up to 18 instead of 10 nuclear power plants under the new government.

Business Korea said companies in the nuclear power industry welcomed the move, with some expecting the new regulations to help revive the sector both at home and overseas. The newspaper said annual exports from the sector amounted to $126m in 2016 but dropped to $33.7m in 2020.