COUNTRY PAVILLIONS | WNE2025 South Korea: Shifting nuclear power policy
South Korea’s long-term nuclear plans remain uncertain with President Lee Jae-myung appearing to favour renewables over new nuclear plants
This image: The Kori nuclear power plant in Busan is home to eight reactors. Unit 1 has now been shut down. Source: The Atlantic Council
South Korea operates 26 commercial reactors with a combined installed capacity of 25.6 GWe that supply around a third of the country’s electricity. The units are a mix of OPR-1000 and APR-1400 pressurised water reactors (PWRs) alongside three CANDU-type units at Wolsong. The nuclear power policy in South Korea has shifted significantly over the past decade. In March 2022, former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government repealed an earlier nuclear phase-out, setting plans for nuclear to provide at least a 30% share of the energy mix by 2030, rising to 35% by 2038. It also set a goal of exporting 10 reactors by the end of the decade and for the development of a Korean-designed small modular reactor for introduction before 2036. In October 2024, President Yoon attended a ceremony to mark
the commercial operation of two APR1400 units, Shin Hanul 1&2, and to celebrate plans to relaunch construction of Shin Hanul 3&4 for completion by 2032 and 2033. First nuclear concrete was poured for Shin Hanul 3 in May, taking the number of APR1400 reactors under construction in Korea to three. However, the impeachment of President Yoon, who was removed from office in April 2025, has thrust uncertainty onto the sector. South Korea’s incumbent President Lee Jae-myung has made clear his support for increasing renewables over nuclear. Speaking during a September press conference to mark 100 days in office he said that South Korea needs to maintain its existing nuclear plants and to complete those under construction, but ultimately has “no choice but to transition to renewables”. President Lee also stated that life extensions for some of the
older reactors could go ahead “provided their safety is assured”. Currently, Kori units 2-4 are offline as their original 40-year operating licences have expired. The decisions on these renewals could be indicative of future policy, with a further seven units due to reach design life by 2030. Meanwhile, South Korea’s oldest reactor, Kori 1, which permanently shut down in June 2017 has recently been granted approval to undergo decommissioning. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
is starting with dismantling the turbine building; it plans to transfer the used nuclear fuel from the pool to a dry storage facility in 2031 and complete dismantling in 2037. Wolsong 1, a 660 MWe CANDU unit, was retired in December 2019. A final decommissioning plan for that unit has been developed with approval slated for December 2026. Alongside its domestic programme, South Korea has ambitious
nuclear export plans. South Korea won its first nuclear power plant export project in 2009, with all four APR1400 reactors at Barakah in the UAE in commercial operation in September 2024. Since then, Korea has been exploring new-build options for gigawatt-scale units and SMRs with several other countries. In August 2025, X-energy, Amazon, KHNP and Doosan Enerbility signed an agreement that aims to accelerate the deployment of X-energy’s Xe-100 SMRs and TRISO-X fuel to support data centres and AI demand across the US. KHNP is also involved in the €1.9bn ($1.97bn) refurbishment of Romania’s Cernavoda 1 (a 650 MWe CANDU unit) as part of a consortium with Candu Energy, Canadian Commercial Corporation and Ansaldo Nucleare.
Above: South Korea operates 12 OPR1000 reactors across four sites. Source: KEPCO E&C
www.neimagazine.com | WNE Special Edition | 87
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
