Busan City Signs Business Agreement to Attract Small Modular Reactor Manufacturing Support Center

Agreement Ceremony at City Hall at 11 AM on the 15th: Busan Chamber of Commerce and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials

Mayor Park Hyung-jun, Busan Chamber President, and Korea Institute Director Attend and Sign

On the 15th at 11 a.m., Busan City will sign a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Attraction of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Manufacturing Support Center" at the City Hall International Protocol Room with the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chairman Jang In-hwa) and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (Director Ryu Seok-hyun).

The Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is an integrated reactor that contains major equipment such as the reactor, steam generator, coolant pump, and pressurizer all within a single vessel. It is a power source capable of addressing climate change and promoting carbon neutrality, and advanced countries worldwide are actively expanding technology development and investment in this field.

The Manufacturing Support Center is a facility that promotes projects such as workforce training, corporate support, and equipment rental to strengthen the manufacturing capabilities of nuclear power equipment companies for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to select the hosting region through a public competition this year, and the city intends to apply for the project to build the Manufacturing Support Center within the Mieum Research and Development (R&D) Industrial Complex in Gangseo-gu.

This agreement was prepared to strengthen the SMR manufacturing capabilities of Busan’s nuclear power equipment companies and to mutually cooperate among related organizations to attract the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s public project for establishing the "Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Manufacturing Support Center" to Busan.

At the signing ceremony, Mayor Park, Chairman Jang In-hwa of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Director Ryu Seok-hyun of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials will attend as representatives of the respective organizations and directly sign the MOU.

Once the agreement is signed, the three organizations promise to ▲discover and support each institution’s roles for attracting the SMR Manufacturing Support Center and fostering related industries ▲promote information exchange and publicity related to the SMR industry ▲and cooperate on other matters recognized as necessary through mutual consultation.

In particular, this agreement holds greater significance as it brings about cooperation between the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which plays a pivotal role in supporting the local economy, and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, which possesses innovative SMR manufacturing technology.

Busan is home to over 110 companies related to nuclear power equipment, and the city has been making various efforts to strengthen the ecosystem of the nuclear power industry in Busan, including the SMR industry, and to attract the SMR Manufacturing Support Center to Busan.

In 2023, a demand survey for revitalizing the nuclear power industry and supporting companies in the Busan area was conducted, and a policy forum was held to establish an ecosystem for SMR materials, parts, and equipment. Additionally, an on-site meeting with small and medium-sized nuclear power companies in Busan was also held in 2023.

Furthermore, Busan was designated as an Energy Industry Convergence Complex (nuclear power and nuclear power plant dismantling, 2020), and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Environment Restoration is also being constructed in Busan (scheduled for completion in the second half of 2026).

Through mutual cooperation among institutions via this MOU, if the SMR Manufacturing Support Center is attracted and established in Busan and related industries are fostered, it is expected to generate significant synergy effects with the nuclear power environment restoration industry centered on the Kori Nuclear Power Plant and the SMR auxiliary equipment industry.

It is also anticipated to create high economic added value as it can be easily applied to industries such as power, energy (marine hydrogen production), machinery, shipbuilding, and defense.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “If the SMR industry develops in Busan, the upstream and downstream related industries will sequentially create economic ripple effects, greatly contributing to improving Busan’s economic structure. I believe the start of this is the attraction of the SMR Manufacturing Support Center, and starting with today’s MOU, Busan City, the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials will work as one team and continue to cooperate until we see good results.”

Busan City Hall.

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