US, Japan, and South Korea Launch Global SMR Plan

The United States Department of State, the Government of Japan, and the government of South Korea established an Implementation Plan to support the global deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Announced on September 24 during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the plan follows a trilateral ministerial meeting and builds upon a Memorandum of Cooperation signed in Ankara on July 7.

Parallel to the governmental agreement, an industry consortium including GE Vernova, Hitachi, Samsung C&T, and SGE signed a cooperation framework to deploy BWRX-300 SMRs across Europe. This private-sector initiative aims to provide reliable baseload nuclear power to millions of Europeans and is expected to promote more than $150 billion in reactor investments. U.S. Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau attended the signing, noting the alignment with objectives previously set by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

While the governmental plan targets global deployment and the industry framework focuses on Europe, neither announcement identified committed financing, specific project sites, or construction schedules.