South Gyeongsang Province will host an international event on small modular reactors (SMRs), a next-generation nuclear technology, in Changwon in November. The event aims to support the entry of the province's nuclear companies into the global supply chain.
The province signed a business agreement Wednesday with the Korea Atomic Industrial Forum and the Gyeongnam Technopark at the provincial government office to ensure the successful hosting of the "2026 Gyeongnam SMR International Conference." The agreement was pursued to share the latest SMR technologies and to establish a cooperative framework for hosting the event.
The conference will be held in Changwon on Nov. 17, with about 400 SMR experts from Korea and abroad attending. Now in its third year, the "Gyeongnam SMR International Conference" has established itself as a leading domestic nuclear SMR event, bringing together domestic and international SMR leaders, regulatory bodies, research institutions, and local equipment manufacturers.
Participating in the planning of the event are domestic SMR companies including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Doosan Enerbility, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, DL E&C, SK Innovation, Samsung C&T, and GS Energy, along with industry-academia-research institutions such as Kyung Hee University, Seoul National University, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.
The Korea Atomic Industrial Forum will handle recruiting domestic and international speakers and organizing the event, while the Gyeongnam Technopark will be responsible for promoting the province's nuclear companies and operating the technical tour.
This year's event will feature various sessions, including the global SMR market outlook, the status of technology development, and plans for establishing SMR foundries (manufacturing and production). Leading overseas SMR companies that could not attend the previous event will also newly participate, sharing a broader range of technical information.
"Gyeongnam is a key hub of Korea's nuclear manufacturing industry, and with the arrival of the SMR era, it has the best conditions to take the lead in the global supply chain," said Kim Myung-ju, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of South Gyeongsang Province. "We will successfully lead the SMR International Conference to showcase Gyeongnam's excellent nuclear manufacturing capabilities to the world, and use it as an opportunity to elevate Gyeongnam into the center of the global SMR industry."
