With electricity demand surging on the spread of artificial intelligence, the South Korean government is seeking to cooperate with U.S. regulators on the review of small modular reactors (SMRs). The government aims to streamline technical reviews of non-light-water SMRs and accelerate the regulatory groundwork for introducing the technology in Korea.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission met with senior officials from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and U.S. nuclear company TerraPower in Washington, D.C., late last month to discuss cooperation on TerraPower reviews to be conducted in Korea, according to nuclear industry sources on the 21st.
At the meeting, TerraPower asked the Korean government to establish a cooperation framework between the two countries' regulators, and U.S. regulators also expressed a positive view on working with Korea, sources said. The NRC granted a construction permit in March this year for TerraPower's sodium-cooled fast reactor, Natrium, and plans to share the details of that review with Korea.
A sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) is a non-light-water SMR that uses liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water and relies on fast neutrons. Unlike light-water SMRs, it can operate at high temperatures and low pressure, allowing more efficient use of nuclear waste, and it does not need to be located near a large river or the sea — features seen as giving it an edge over light-water designs. The government has set a goal of beginning construction of non-light-water SMRs in the 2030s.
Because a licensing framework covering SMRs of various purposes and designs must be in place by 2030 for domestic construction to proceed, the commission also says cooperation with the United States is necessary. "If we work with the United States, we can leverage the NRC's regulatory experience to raise our own regulatory readiness in Korea," a commission official said. "We are reviewing the signing of a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) for technical review cooperation between the two countries." The MOC is expected to be signed in the first half of next year.
Korean companies are also moving quickly to prepare for domestic commercialization of SMRs. SK Innovation (096770), TerraPower's second-largest shareholder, and Samsung Heavy Industries (010140), which is working with Danish nuclear firm Saltfoss, have sounded out participation in the commission's SMR pre-review program set to take effect in November, sources said.
