Korea forms public-private SMR council to speed commercialization

South Korea's science ministry said Thursday it will form a public-private consultative body within October to accelerate the commercialization of small modular reactors, bringing equipment suppliers and potential buyers together as the government races to stake out a position in the emerging global market.

First Vice Minister Koo Hyuk-chae chaired a meeting of SMR suppliers and buyers on Oct. 1, where the two sides agreed to organize the council by reactor type and hold a kickoff meeting to begin discussions on regulatory reform, research and business development, and special-purpose companies.

Buyers included Posco E&C, Lotte Chemical, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean. Suppliers included Doosan Enerbility, Hyundai E&C, Samsung C&T and Daewoo E&C, along with the Korea Atomic Industrial Forum, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the National Research Foundation of Korea and an advanced reactor industry technology association.

The meeting was the first step toward carrying out the government's "7 SEED projects," a growth-driver package announced in August that placed SMRs in its future clean energy category. The plan sets a target of commercializing light-water SMRs by 2035 and breaking ground on non-light-water designs in the 2030s, with detailed joint public-private design work to begin next year.

The two sides reviewed demand for offshore SMRs, heat demand from industrial complexes, the timing of supply and domestic site conditions, and discussed the direction of a basic plan for SMR system development, scheduled to be drawn up in 2027. For non-light-water SMRs, the ministry intends to nurture project companies backed by joint public and private investment from the early stages of development, a structure it said would link domestic technology to real projects and overseas markets.

"We plan to actively reflect the matters discussed at this meeting in follow-up measures to the SMR Special Act, including the basic plan and the promotion committee," Koo said. "We will form the public-private consultative body swiftly to reduce uncertainty for private investment."

The gathering followed the Sept. 11 entry into force of the Special Act on the Promotion of and Support for Small Modular Reactor Development along with its enforcement decree. The ministry is required to draw up a basic plan for SMR system development every five years and plans to organize an SMR system development promotion committee within the year.

The ministry also shared the results of its participation in the August launch in the United States of ATLAS, an International Atomic Energy Agency initiative for global cooperation on marine nuclear power, and its attendance at the IAEA General Assembly in Austria in September. It stressed the importance of early participation in setting international safety standards, licensing, classification and maritime certification for marine nuclear commercialization, and heard the views of shipbuilders and other companies.

IAEA General Assembly discussions, the ministry said, are shifting from nuclear safety toward nuclear growth, covering artificial intelligence, power, SMRs and fuel supply chains. The ministry shared plans for an IAEA nuclear ministerial meeting it will co-host with the agency in Songdo, Incheon, from Oct. 27 to 29, and asked companies to take part.