Korea-US to Declare Cooperation for Joint Entry into Nuclear Power Market... "Details Being Coordinated"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] South Korea and the United States are expected to announce various nuclear power cooperation measures, including a joint entry into the overseas nuclear power market, at the first Korea-US summit to be held in Seoul on the 21st.

According to the Blue House and the Presidential Office on the 19th, South Korea and the United States are reportedly finalizing an agreement to include in the joint statement by the two leaders cooperation on the joint development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), the reactivation of the Korea-US High-Level Bilateral Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation (HLBC), and joint entry into the overseas nuclear power market.

SMRs are small-scale nuclear power plants with an integrated design of major equipment such as the reactor, steam generator, and coolant pump, with a capacity of 300MW or less. They are attracting attention as next-generation nuclear power plants in terms of cost and safety.

The Yoon Seok-yeol administration has been seeking practical cooperation measures with the US side ahead of this summit. It is reported that the US side initially showed reluctance regarding nuclear power cooperation during the consultation process.

This was due to the intellectual property royalty dispute between Westinghouse in the US and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power over Korea's export-type nuclear power model, the APR-1400. Westinghouse does not recognize the APR-1400 as Korea's independent technology and claims intellectual property infringement.