Since its establishment in 1959, KAERI has made significant contributions to the nations nuclear technology development. After achieving self-reliance in nuclear core technologies, KAERI have transferred highly developed technologies to local industries for practical applications.
KAERI established the present Korea Power Engineering Co., Inc. (KOPEC), responsible for not only the architect engineering works of nuclear power plants, but also for the design of nuclear steam supply systems. KAERI also established the present KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. (KNFC), responsible for designing and manufacturing PWR as well as PHWR fuels.

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, responsible for supporting the government in regulatory and licensing works, and the Nuclear Environment Technology Institute under KEPCO, responsible for low and medium level radioactive waste management, are also originally spin-offs from KAERI.

□ Regional Cooperative Agreement(RCA)
The Regional Co-operative Agreement (RCA) is an intergovernmental agreement for East Asia & Pacific region, under the auspices of the IAEA, in which the Government Parties undertake, in co-operation with each other and with the IAEA to promote and co-ordinate co-operative research, development (R&D) and training projects in nuclear science and technology through their appropriate national institutions.
The first regional collaborative agreement which began in the early 1960s under the sponsorship of the IAEA was called the “India-Philippines-IAEA (IPA) Agreement.” This laid the foundation of the Regional Co-operative Agreement (RCA). The IPA involved the making of a spectrometer in India and its set-up in the Philippine Research Reactor-I with IAEA funding. This was used for training by neighboring countries. The IPA ran in the mid-1960s, and later in the early 1970s. It was in 1972 that ten governments in the Asia and Pacific region undertook, in co-operation with each other and the Agency, to promote and co-ordinate co-operative activities in nuclear science and technology. It was the first regional agreement of such magnitude concluded under the auspices of the Agency. Since then, the RCA has expanded considerably, both in its membership and in the size and subject scope of its program. RCA projects have contributed significantly in a number of priority areas vital to regional socio-economic development, such as food and agriculture, health care, industry and environmental protection. The number of scientists, engineers and technicians of RCA Member States involved in various projects has grown to several thousand. With the growing emphasis placed on technical co-operation among developing countries, the share of specialists from developing countries engaged in various RCA activities is steadily increasing.
The original RCA Member States initially involved ten (10) countries. The earliest signatories to the original agreement, according to the records were the following: India(7 June 72), Vietnam (12 June 72), Indonesia (16 Oct 72), Thailand (4 Dec 72), Philippines (17 April 73), Singapore, Pakistan (6 Sept 74), Korea (9 Oct 74) Bangladesh (23 Oct 74) and Sri Lanka (9 Mar 76); now there are seventeen (17) which are as follows: Australia(1977), Bangladesh, People's Republic of China(1977), India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Japan(1982), Malaysia(1975), Mongolia(1992), Myanmar(1997), New Zealand(1994), Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka(1976), Thailand and Vietnam.
The RCA celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2002. During the 30 years of the RCA’s existence, the participating countries and the Agency have accumulated valuable experience of co-operation and of coordinating nuclear-related development activities in the region. In most cases, RCA projects and the activities carried out under the Agency’s regular technical co-operation program at the national and regional level complement each other, every effort being made to avoid duplication and to use the available manpower and financial resources in the cost-effective manner.
The Regional Co-operative Agreement (RCA) for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific has the IAEA as a partner, not a party. It is one of four regional co-operative agreements under the aegis of the IAEA. The others are ARCAL for Latin America(formed in 1984),AFRA for Africa (formed in 1990) and ARASIA for Middle East (formed in 2002).

□ Regional Cooperative Agreement Regional Office(RCARO) (http://www.rcaro.org)
Regional Cooperative Agreement - Regional Office (RCARO) was established to increase RCA visibility and to promote RCA viability in Daejeon, Korea in 2002. RCA-RO’s major functions are:

- to pro-actively seek out opportunities for the RCA to participate in projects being formulated and designed by major regional and international donors, including international agencies,
- to negotiate and secure contracts for income generating activities of the RCARO and provide supplementary funding for RCA projects,
- to promote the peaceful uses of appropriate nuclear technology to assist in addressing regional and national needs,
- to implement the directives of the RCA Member States as agreed upon at the National RCA Representatives Meetings, and
- to provide enhanced visibility for the RCA at regional and national fora.