[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Recently, the introduction of nuclear submarines has become a concrete prospect. This is because the military strongly hinted at the possibility of developing three nuclear submarines among the nine 3,000 to 4,000-ton submarines to be sequentially introduced by the early to mid-2030s. Nuclear submarines are considered a representative strategic weapon capable of responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as well as potential threats from neighboring countries.
The 2015 revised nuclear agreement established a pathway to produce low-enriched uranium up to 20% with the consent of the United States. The French Suffren-class nuclear-powered submarines use low-enriched uranium below 20% as nuclear fuel, and South Korea is also reviewing plans to build nuclear submarines using this method. However, Article 10, Paragraph 2 specifies that it "must not be used for the manufacture or research and development of nuclear weapons or other military purposes," allowing use only for civilian purposes.
According to the 2017 report by the Navy titled "The Usefulness and Construction Possibility of Nuclear-Powered Submarines on the Korean Peninsula," developing nuclear submarines domestically would require seven years and a cost of 1.3 to 1.5 trillion won per submarine. Some are also considering the option of purchasing the French Suffren-class (4,765 tons) nuclear submarines. The Suffren-class, also called the Barracuda-class, uses a reactor fueled by low-enriched uranium below 20%, unlike the United States, whose nuclear submarines use highly enriched uranium above 90%.
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