South Korea’s National Assembly has passed the Special Act on the Promotion and Support of Small Modular Reactor Development (SMR Special Act) reflecting a growing consensus that the construction of SMRs is needed to meet surging power demand from AI and data centres and achieve carbon neutrality. The SMR Special Act had been stalled for the past two years.
South Korean companies with large reactor technologies, such as Doosan Enerbility, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and have been developing SMR technologies despite concerns that South Korea could lose market leadership due to the lack of policy support. Now, with the passage of the SMR Act, nuclear power industry is looking to establish a domestic ecosystem.
According to the act, the government must establish a ‘Basic Plan for SMR System Development’ every five years, including strategies for research, funding, and ecosystem creation. An SMR Development Promotion Committee will be set up under the Nuclear Promotion Committee to deliberate on major SMR matters. South Korea aims to deploy approximately 700 MWe of SMR capacity by 2035 as part of its 11th Basic Power Supply Plan.
There is also provision for establishing SMR Special Zones to accelerate technology development through collaboration between universities, research institutes, and other organisations. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to invest KRW1,200bn ($831.5m) by 2030 in core technology designs for three domestically developed SMR reactor types.
Some experts have expressed concerns that the licensing and regulatory framework, currently tailored for large reactors, must be adjusted to suit SMRs in order to accelerate development and commercialisation. Professor Jeong Bum-jin from Kyung Hee University’s Department of Nuclear Engineering welcomed the SMR Special Act’s passage as reflecting the government’s commitment to nuclear power policy, but added: “If we adhere to large reactor regulations, SMR projects will require excessive time and costs. We must acknowledge SMR safety and relax overly stringent regulations.”
However, the Nuclear Safety & Security Commission (NSSC) the same day announced plans to establish a new regulatory framework for SMRs. The aim is to gradually reform the system over five years until 2030. NSSC will consider SMR designs focusing on core safety functions and requirements rather than uniformly applying detailed technical regulations.
South Korea is currently developing three major domestic SMR designs. The primary models being advanced by national consortia and private companies include the i-SMR (Innovative SMR), SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor) and BANDI-60, all based on pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology.
The i-SMR is an integral PWR designed to generate 170 MWe. It is the flagship project of the Innovative Small Modular Reactor Development Agency, a consortium involving Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The i-SMR is the national priority for domestic deployment and export. It completed the conceptual and basic design phase in 2023–2025 and is now preparing to submit a Standard Design Approval (SDA) application with NSSC with the aim of obtaining the SDA in 2028. It is looking to receive construction permits in the early 2030s targeting commercial operation 2035.
The SMART/SMART100 is a 100–110 MWe design, originally developed by KAERI. The original SMART design received the world’s first integral-type PWR SDA in 2012. The upgraded SMART100 (with fully passive safety systems) received SDA from the NSSC in September 2024. The current focus is on global deployment, including licensing applications for projects in Canada (Chalk River) and commercialisation in Saudi Arabia. It is targeting 2029-2030 for first commercial unit completion in export markets. It is also being adapted for marine applications, such as floating power platforms.
BANDI-60 is a 60 MWe block-type PWR developed by KEPCO Engineering & Construction (KEPCO E&C), specifically aimed at marine-based systems and remote communities. It has completed the Basic Design and is looking to complete third-phase Standard Design development and licensing in 2027-2030 and to begin fabrication in 2031.
In addition, South Korean industry leaders such as Doosan Enerbility, Samsung Heavy Industries, and HD Hyundai are involved in the co-development and manufacture of international SMR designs, including those from NuScale Power (USA) and TerraPower (USA). SK Group recently took a stake in TerraPower HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) is collaborating with international partners to develop molten salt reactors for ship propulsion. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is partnering with US-based Holtec to build SMRs internationally, including projects at the US Palisades NPP.
