U.S. announces implementation plan with S. Korea, Japan for SMR deployments

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The United States on Wednesday announced an implementation plan to support a trilateral cooperation arrangement with South Korea and Japan on the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in third countries, as the countries step up cooperation to meet growing global energy demands.

The State Department made the announcement on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, after South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) on civil nuclear energy during their talks in Ankara in July.

The department did not elaborate on the implementation plan.

"The MOC and Implementation Plan support our mutual security interests by setting out an ambitious agenda in pursuit of SMR fleet deployment to meet growing global energy demands," the department said in a media note.

The department took note of the recent signing of a key industry initiative that establishes a cooperation framework among four companies from South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Poland -- GE Vernova, Hitachi, Samsung C&T and SGE -- to advance deployment of the BWRX-300 SMR across Europe.

The BWRX-300 is an SMR developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between GE Vernova and Hitachi. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau attended and welcomed the signing of the industry initiative, according to the department.

"By bringing together American, Japanese, Korean and Polish industry leaders, this international consortium aims to deliver reliable baseload nuclear power to millions of people across Europe and promote over US$150 billion in reactor investments in the coming years," it said.

"This important industry milestone demonstrates the impact of leveraging our nations' complementary industrial strengths to accelerate the deployment of reactors that meet the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation, in line with the broader objectives reflected in the trilateral MOC," it added.