South Korea, the United States, and Japan have joined forces to export small modular reactors (SMRs). The three countries, which have previously competed in nuclear power bids, are now collaborating to target the world's fastest-growing energy market.
On July 7, during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) to enhance trilateral collaboration. The agreement focuses on deploying SMRs in third countries, starting with the Indo-Pacific region. According to the U.S. State Department, the U.S. will invest over $10 million in a program to technically support the introduction of nuclear power in Indo-Pacific nations.
From the perspective of South Korea's nuclear industry, this agreement formalizes a trend that has been developing for months. Instead of competing directly with U.S. reactor design capabilities and Japan's industrial strengths, the countries will share roles.
What makes SMRs so appealing to these nations? SMRs are smaller reactors that produce significantly less electricity than traditional large reactors, typically generating 300 megawatts or less compared to over 1,000 megawatts for larger plants. Developers argue that because SMR components can be manufactured in factories and assembled on-site, they can reduce construction time and initial costs. This contrasts with the frequent cost overruns that have plagued large nuclear projects in the West. However, the commercial viability of SMRs has yet to be proven, as no SMRs are currently operational in the West, with the first unit under construction in Canada.
The strategic potential of this incomplete technology has been enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI). AI models require massive data centers that consume electricity around the clock. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global data center electricity consumption will nearly double from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 terawatt-hours by 2030, accounting for about 3% of total global electricity demand. A single large AI data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households. Meeting this continuous demand solely with wind and solar energy is challenging, and new gas power plants often face years of delays in connecting to the grid. This is why nuclear power, particularly SMRs that can be located next to data centers, is gaining attention.
Big tech companies are already taking action. Google signed its first commercial SMR power purchase agreement with U.S. developer Kairos Power in October 2024, while Amazon and Microsoft are also investing in nuclear power. According to the IEA, the size of conditional power purchase agreements between data center operators and SMR projects has expanded from 25 gigawatts at the end of 2024 to 45 gigawatts currently. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol stated, "Without energy, there is no AI," emphasizing that countries providing stable and affordable electricity will lead the way.
The Ankara agreement aims for the three countries to jointly pursue this market. The South Korean Foreign Ministry stated that this cooperative framework seeks to reduce business development risks, achieve economies of scale, attract private investment, streamline licensing, and optimize supply chains. Partner countries will be required to meet high standards for nuclear safety and non-proliferation. Although not explicitly stated, the agreement is clearly aimed at countering Russia's Rosatom and China's state-owned nuclear companies, which have dominated nuclear exports to developing countries.
The strengths of the three countries do not overlap. The U.S. leads in reactor design, Japan contributes through joint ventures like GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and South Korea has a supply chain centered around Doosan Enerbility, which has completed the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates and supplies components and modules to U.S. SMR developers like NuScale Power.
Industrial cooperation is already visible. Alongside the ministerial signing, the U.S. State Department announced an industry initiative involving GE Vernova, Hitachi, Samsung C&T, and SGE to deploy the SMR 'BWRX-300' across Europe. Samsung C&T, a construction subsidiary of the Samsung Group, formed a strategic alliance with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy in October 2022 to jointly build this 300-megawatt reactor in global markets outside North America. Last week, this collaboration expanded further, with Polish developer SGE announcing plans to build 14 BWRX-300 units at three sites in the UK, with a project value of approximately $47 billion.
This cooperative framework is particularly noteworthy given the intense competition that has existed. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has been embroiled in a nearly decade-long intellectual property dispute with U.S. firm Westinghouse. The contention centered on the technology roots of South Korea's flagship export reactor, the APR1400, casting a shadow over South Korea's export efforts. The two sides reached a comprehensive agreement in January 2025, but the terms were challenging. According to the Korea Herald, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power agreed to purchase $650 million worth of equipment and services from Westinghouse for each reactor exported and pay $175 million in royalties, with bidding restrictions in place for the European Union, the UK, Japan, and Ukraine, excluding North America and the Czech Republic. This 50-year agreement also grants Westinghouse the right to verify the technological independence of South Korean companies before they bid on overseas projects, including SMRs.
As a result of this agreement, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power secured a contract for two large reactors in the Czech Republic worth $18.6 billion in June 2025, marking its first overseas nuclear project since 2009. However, the deal faced criticism domestically for being overly concessionary. The trilateral framework now offers a different calculation. If South Korea, the U.S., and Japan bid as a team instead of competing against each other, the burdens of licensing restrictions that have constrained South Korea's solo bids would lessen, making a combined proposal more appealing to potential buyers.
Meanwhile, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power is pursuing an independent path. It is developing its own design, the Innovative SMR (i-SMR), with the goal of obtaining standard design approval by the late 2020s. If successful, this would add another technological asset for South Korea to present in consortium bids.
During the signing ceremony, Secretary Rubio linked the agreement to energy security, citing instability in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for Middle Eastern oil. He stated that the agreement would enable the three countries to advance their joint work on SMRs, calling the technology "the future of energy production in many ways." Minister Park noted that SMRs represent one of several areas where the three countries can collectively address common challenges.
The first BWRX-300 is under construction at the Darlington site in Ontario, Canada, with a target completion date in the late 2020s.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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