US, South Korea Ink Initial Agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation

Seoul and Washington have reached a provisional agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation and rules concerning nuclear exports.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Principles Concerning Nuclear Exports and Cooperation advances the allies’ “mutual commitment to promoting the expansion of peaceful nuclear energy while upholding the highest standards of nonproliferation, safety, safeguards, and security”, the United States Energy Department said in a statement.

“Toward this end, the parties strengthened their administration of export controls on civil nuclear technology”, add the online statement.

“These further commitments will provide a springboard for the expansion of our bilateral work in combatting climate change, accelerating global energy transitions, and assuring critical supply chains while creating billions of dollars’ worth of new economic opportunities and the creation or maintenance of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs for both of our industries”.

The MOU now undergoes review by both parties.

The U.S. is also building civil nuclear cooperation with Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Last April the DOE and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) agreed to cooperate on research and the development of the supply chain for the societal deployment of fusion energy. The agreement emanates from a 2013 agreement between Japan and the U.S. for research and development in science and technology (STA).

The partnership will “address the scientific and technical challenges of delivering commercially viable fusion energy for various fusion systems, through activities conducted pursuant to the STA”, according to a joint statement April 10.

Last March at a meeting of the US-EU Energy Council, Washington and Brussels agreed to explore cooperation to curb the globe’s reliance on Russia in the nuclear energy supply chain.

“The United States and the EU intend to intensify cooperation to reduce dependency on Russia for nuclear materials and fuel cycle services, and support ongoing efforts by affected EU Member States to diversify nuclear supplies, as appropriate”, said a joint statement March 15. “The Council expressed support for multilateral efforts to identify alternative nuclear energy-related suppliers across the global nuclear supply chain for relevant countries”.

On November 8, 2023, the energy departments of the UK and the U.S. announced a pact on cooperation to accelerate the commercial deployment of fusion energy through research and development projects, supply chain development, regulatory framework harmonization and skills development.

Like the U.S., the UK aims to have commercial-scale fusion power plants in the 2030s, as set out in the UK’s Fusion Strategy.

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