The United States and the United Kingdom are moving to jointly invest 150 billion pounds (about 282 trillion won) in nuclear power generation and artificial intelligence (AI), strengthening nuclear cooperation. Japan has restarted nuclear plants that had been taboo since the Fukushima nuclear accident and is also pushing to increase the share of nuclear power. France and Sweden are also rolling out plans to build new nuclear plants.
A nuclear power trend is sweeping the world, but the Lee Jae-myung administration says it will expand renewable energy and reconsider the construction of new nuclear plants. With electricity demand surging due to AI, semiconductors, and electric vehicles, critics say only Korea's energy policy is moving in the opposite direction.
The United States and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to strengthen nuclear cooperation and will mutually recognize each other's safety assessments, shortening the permit period for building new nuclear plants from the current three to four years to two years. X-energy, a U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) corporations, and Centrica, a U.K. energy corporations, plan to build up to 12 modular reactors in the Hartlepool area of the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom's Tritax, France's Électricité de France (EDF), and the United States' Holtec plan to build a data center using SMRs on the site of a former coal-fired power plant in Nottinghamshire.
The nuclear revival trend is spreading worldwide. Japan restarted the No. 2 reactor at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant last Oct., 13 years after operations were halted following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The Japanese government plans to raise the share of nuclear power generation to the 20% range by 2040. To that end, Kansai Electric Power resumed site surveys and, for the first time in 14 years, began construction of a new nuclear plant.
France brought the No. 3 reactor at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant online last December and is considering adding six more reactors by 2035. Sweden, once a leading anti-nuclear country, has reversed course and will build four new reactors for the first time in 40 years. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) projects that global nuclear power capacity will expand by 2.6 times by 2050.
Korea is taking the opposite path. In a news conference marking the 100th day in office, President Lee said, "No matter how large the power demand of data centers gets, nuclear plants, which take 10 years to complete, cannot be the solution," stressing the need to expand renewable energy.
Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan, whose ministry took over nuclear policy duties in a government reorganization, said, "New nuclear plant installations can be reconsidered." The 11th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand (2024–2038), finalized in Feb., includes a plan to build two new large reactors and one small modular reactor by 2038.
Industry and academic circles in the nuclear sector fear a "phase two of denuclearization" following the Moon Jae-in administration. A nuclear industry official said, "While the world is increasing nuclear power, if Korea shuns a scientific and practical approach, it could become isolated in the nuclear industry."