The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on July 7 to establish a framework for trilateral cooperation on accelerating small modular reactor deployments in the Indo-Pacific.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi inked the MOU on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
The State Department said the MOU outlines opportunities for the three countries, which have complementary advantages in the civil nuclear field, to encourage mutually beneficial cooperation among their respective nuclear industries. The framework aims to foster fleet deployment models that de-risk project development, achieve economies of scale, catalyze private investment, streamline licensing processes, and optimize supply chains.
The U.S. is committing more than $10 million in new funding for a State Department program to provide technical support to Indo-Pacific countries. Rubio said the memorandum allows the nations to move forward on joint work on small modular reactors, which is the future of energy generation in a safe, efficient and cost-effective way.
