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Korea and U.S. partner in nuclear power and mineral refining initiatives

Published: 26 Aug. 2025, 18:14 Updated: 26 Aug. 2025, 19:37

Participants pose for a commemorative photo during the small modular reactor (SMR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony held immediately following the Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable in Washington on Aug. 25. From left: Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan, Doosan Energy Chairman Park Gee-won, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power President Whang Joo-ho, X-Energy CEO Clay Sell, AWS Energy Policy Manager Ray Fakhoury, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. [DOOSAN ENERBILITY]

Korean nuclear power, power equipment and mineral refining companies have emerged as key pillars of Korea-U.S. manufacturing cooperation, joining shipbuilding, semiconductors and automobiles as major players that helped push through tariff negotiations.

Of the 11 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed between companies from both countries during the Korea-U.S. summit on Monday, four involve nuclear power projects.

A major achievement was Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility — working as a “one team” — signing an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and X-energy to cooperate across the full life cycle of small modular reactors (SMRs), from design and construction to operations, supply chains, investment and market expansion.

The four companies pledged to cooperate on AWS’s $700 million investment to commercialize 5 gigawatts (GW) of SMR capacity. AWS plans to use SMRs to power AI data centers it will build through 2039.

SMRs are at the heart of the U.S. nuclear expansion policy. Big Tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla are all investing heavily in SMR projects.

Doosan Enerbility, which manufactures key nuclear reactor and turbine equipment, also signed an MOU with U.S. energy developer Fermi America for cooperation in nuclear and SMR projects.

Fermi America is pursuing an “AI Campus Project” in Texas combining four large nuclear reactors (totaling 4 GW), SMRs, gas combined-cycle plants, solar power and large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Doosan is also expected to play a crucial role once KHNP and Westinghouse launch a joint venture to execute nuclear power projects.

The Korea-U.S. Business Roundtable is being held in Washington on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]

“With the support and interest of both governments, this agreement will accelerate SMR commercialization,” said Park Gee-won, chairman of Doosan Enerbility. “Doosan will faithfully fulfill its role, drawing on our proven manufacturing expertise, to make this a model case of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.”

LS Group, led by Chairman Koo Ja-eun and part of the economic delegation, pledged to invest $3 billion in the United States by 2030 in power grid infrastructure, including subsea cables, power equipment and winding wires.

LS Cable’s subsidiary, LS Greenlink, began construction in April on the largest subsea cable plant in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Korea Zinc, the only refining company in the delegation, signed an MOU with Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, to cooperate on germanium supply and procurement, as well as broader critical mineral supply chains.

The company will supply high-purity germanium produced at a new plant it is building in Ulsan by 2027. Germanium is a strategic material used in night-vision goggles, thermal imaging equipment and satellite solar panels.

With China currently producing 68 percent of the world’s germanium, the deal effectively builds a “supply chain alliance” between Korea and the United States in critical minerals.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM KI-HWAN [[email protected]]