Ruling Party and Government Drive Nuclear Power... SMR Budget of 80 Billion Won Proposed

Government and Private Companies Jointly Invest 55 Billion Won Over 3 Years
Park Seong-jung "Secured 3 SMRs, 2 Under Research and Development"

The ruling party and the government have decided to increase the budget for small modular reactors (SMRs), classified as future growth industries, to 80 billion won next year, about ten times the current amount. This reflects their plan to drive nuclear power development.

On the 8th, the People Power Party and the government held a “Working-Level Party-Government Council for Future Nuclear Power and Regional Science and Technology Innovation” at the National Assembly in the morning and reached this consensus. Park Sung-joong, the ruling party secretary of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, told reporters right after the council, "We will strive to secure the SMR-related budget in next year’s budget," adding, “The total budget request for next year is planned to be about 78.7 billion won, including 10 billion won for new projects, 60.7 billion won for innovative development, and 8 billion won for fundamental technology development.”

This is about ten times larger than this year’s budget. In the 2023 Ministry of Science and ICT budget, the SMR-related budget was 7.6 billion won in total, consisting of 4.5 billion won for molten salt reactor (MSR) fundamental technology development and 3.1 billion won for innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR) technology development.

Park said, “There are about 80 SMR types developed worldwide, and we plan to develop about five,” adding, “Three of them in Korea have global competitiveness, and we aim to secure competitiveness for the other two through research and development.” He explained, “SMRs are future growth industries that can be used in various fields, and since the world is competing in this area, Korea cannot fall behind, which is why we held this party-government council.”

The ruling party and government agreed on the need for private investment. In particular, the government emphasized the importance of creating a private-led ecosystem that can quickly respond to market changes, considering that SMRs, unlike large nuclear power plants, have diverse markets such as industrial process heat, hydrogen production, and seawater desalination. Accordingly, the government plans to jointly invest 55 billion won with companies over three years in the newly established “Public-Private Joint Next-Generation Reactor Development Project” next year to rapidly secure high-temperature gas reactor technology for heat supply. This will later be expanded to other SMR types.

Kim Young-sik, a People Power Party member of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, said, “Technology development takes more time than expected, but bold investment and private investment are necessary for rapid development,” adding, “Although we cannot guarantee the speed, I think it will progress quickly.” The ruling party also decided to continuously identify difficulties faced by companies, including regulatory improvements.

The government plans to finalize the strategic plan discussed on this day within this month through deliberation and resolution by the Nuclear Promotion Committee chaired by the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the ruling party and government are promoting the enactment of the Regional Science and Technology Innovation Act to foster regional growth through science and technology. The bill, proposed by Representative Kim, focuses on enhancing regional specialization and competitiveness, such as the aerospace complex in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, and secondary batteries in Chungbuk.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.