BUSINESS Secretary Greg Clark visits South Korea this week - with Cumbria's planned nuclear new build said to be high on his agenda.

It has been reported that Mr Clark is set to meet executives from Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), which has said it is interested in becoming involved in plans to build a new power plant at Moorside, near Sellafield.

Question marks surround this project because of the financial problems surrounding Toshiba, which has a 60 per cent stake in NuGen, the company behind the Cumbrian nuclear plans.

The Japanese giant is set to record multi-billion yen losses, caused mainly by problems with its American nuclear division Westinghouse Electric, which last week filed for bankruptcy. It has insisted that it remains committed to Moorside but this is doubted by many observers.

Kepco though has said it would be keen to get involved with Moorside.

Chief executive Cho Hwan-eik said last month that the firm is looking to purchase Toshiba's stake in NuGen: "We will jump into (the deal) most quickly once its debt, equity structure is determined"

Han Chul-hee, of the Korean energy ministry’s nuclear export promotion division, also said last month: “We’re interested in joining the (NuGen) consortium.

“Now, (NuGen) want us to be involved in (NuGen) to a greater extent. We are looking at how profitable the project will be and how much investment we should make.”

Mr Clark's department would not confirm details of who he was meeting on his trip.

He said: "The UK and South Korea have a proud history of collaboration in areas such as biotechnology, energy and manufacturing and this visit is aimed at ensuring this partnership continues to grow.”

“Our partnership with Korea is a clear example of how strategic international relationships can power the economy and create opportunities at home and abroad – an important part of our industrial strategy.”

One issue surrounding Kepco's involvement is which reactors the Korean firm would want to use.

It manufactures its own model - the APR1400 - but all planning for the project has been based on Westinghouse's AP1000, which was cleared for use in the UK last week.

Any changes to the choice of reactor could put the project back by several years.

Kepco has worked on projects in China, Ukraine, Paraguay and the United Arab Emirates.

NuGen did not comment.