Korean builders are lining up to build Western SMRs, but few contracts are signed

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0900

On September 29, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the first US construction permit for a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300, for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at Clinch River, Tennessee. TVA and GE Vernova call it the first for a commercial small modular reactor (SMR) in the United States; the larger sodium-cooled Natrium plant was permitted in March.

Korea's nuclear decommissioning market — what the 500-trillion-won headline actually means

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 23:56:00 +0900

In June 2025, Korea’s nuclear regulator approved the dismantling of a commercial power reactor for the first time. The reactor is Kori-1, near Busan, Korea’s first commercial nuclear plant: it made electricity from 1978 for close to 40 years and was permanently shut down in 2017. Within days, Korean headlines were announcing that “a 500-trillion-won decommissioning market has opened.”

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Korean builders are lining up to build Western SMRs, but few contracts are signed

Korea's nuclear decommissioning market — what the 500-trillion-won headline actually means