[ANALYSIS] Seoul aims to use strengthened US ties to expand nuclear plant exports

A nuclear reactor and two cooling towers are shown at Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear power plant Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Waynesboro, Ga. Georgia Power Co. is again delaying the projected start of two new units at the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, saying its share of the costs will rise by an additional $200 million. AP-Yonhap

Settlement between Westinghouse and KEPCO is necessary for Washington-Seoul to expand alliance into nuclear energy

By Kim Yoo-chul

Unlike the previous Moon Jae-in administration, President Yoon Suk Yeol and his foreign affairs team are clearly aiming to grow South Korea into a pivotal state given Seoul's competitive standing to increase interoperability among a range of partners, specifically in the Indo-Pacific region.

This policy drive is backed by his administration's concerted backing of Washington's various protectionist industrial policies and regional security agenda items.

South Korea's support of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, the country's participation in a U.S.-initiated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and Chip 4 alliance are the examples signifying Seoul's shift toward U.S. policies. The Chip 4, for example, is an alliance of semiconductor manufacturers headquartered in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea that aims to jointly maintain a resilient chip supply. After supply chain disruptions during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, semiconductor and battery manufacturing have become security issues in the U.S.

"Seoul's backing of [U.S. President Joe] Biden's signature industrial and regional security policies illustrates the fact that the country is prepared to withstand any economic and political costs by raising its profile as an advocate of major policy initiatives outlined and being managed by the U.S.' partners and its like-minded allies," a senior government official said in a telephone interview, adding that the majority of his comments do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of South Korea.

Despite Seoul maintaining strategic cooperation with Beijing given its heavy reliance on the Chinese market _ China is the largest trading partner of South Korea _ and China's huge political influence on North Korea, the Yoon administration's apparent shift in position favoring the Biden administration's moves to revive U.S. manufacturing, has so far been successful.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a keynote address during the National Association of Counties at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., February 14, 2023. Biden discussed the progress made thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and work that needs to be done together to implement these historic legislative victories at the local level to make a difference in people's lives. UPI-Yonhap

Washington vowed to bolster its "extended deterrence" to protect South Korea by guaranteeing the positioning of more U.S. strategic military assets closer to the Korean Peninsula to counter evolving North Korean nuclear threats. While South Korea's ruling party lawmakers recently warned that the country might have to "seriously consider" developing its own nuclear weapons as a deterrent, Washington officials remain negative about the idea, because a nuclear-armed South Korea would shake up the status quo in Northeast Asia.

From the standpoint of businesses, South Korean semiconductor and battery manufacturers such as Samsung, SK and LG Energy Solution, all have manufacturing facilities on U.S. soil and have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the passage of IRA and CHIPS Act.

Now, as the Biden administration has set its sights on boosting U.S. energy independence, the Yoon administration is hoping to expand its alliance with Washington into nuclear energy, in addition to batteries and chips, security analysts and company officials said.

SMRs emerge as option, legal troubles

The prime goal of the IRA is aimed at addressing rising inflation. However, the IRA also includes several tax incentives for clean energy technologies including advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). This means the IRA will possibly become a game changer for Washington's participation in the new energy economy, because the act creates a high level of certainty for decarbonization investments over the next decade.

Within that context, support from the private sector is necessary for the Biden administration to accelerate the pace of its net-zero efforts. A report released by Bain & Company, a consultancy, forecasts U.S. federal spending on clean energy, manufacturing and infrastructure to triple over the next decade as much work is needed for the U.S. to close the gap between current policies and its 2030 climate goals.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a type of advanced nuclear plants. SMRs are expandable, cost-effective and even have improved safety features. Plus, SMRs are considered as the right replacement at the time of the retirement of aging and inefficient coal-powered plants and they could also be built and assembled in the U.S., a plus factor in terms of increasing employment and economic activity in affected U.S. cities.

This combination of photos created on February 23, 2023 shows a cooling tower of a nuclear power plant in Biblis, Germany during its controlled demolition. The Biblis nuclear power plant was shut down after a political decision to phase out nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. AFP-Yonhap

"One of the key aspects of the IRA is how smoothly tuned it is to support critical U.S. backbone industries to meet cost-competitive thresholds. Given the potential of the economics of clean energy, the IRA will have profound effects on South Korean nuclear energy and reactor companies, because they are in a better position to become one of the top beneficiaries of the act," a trade ministry official said by telephone.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has scrapped the former Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy based on the view that nuclear power is essential for the long-term sustainability of South Korea's economy and its nuclear power industry. There are hopes that Yoon might reach a consensus with his U.S. counterpart on the sidelines of the Korean leader's scheduled state-visit to the White House in late April to expand the Washington-Seoul alliance in the area of SMRs, industry sources told The Korea Times.

Seoul's presidential office said details of Yoon's visit to Washington have yet to be confirmed.

U.S.-based Westinghouse and KEPCO, alongside KEPCO's subsidiary Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), are involved in negotiations over their legal dispute after the U.S. company filed a lawsuit against KHNP in a U.S. federal court to block it from selling reactors to Poland. KEPCO and its subsidiary, KHNP, have been accused of infringing on Westinghouse's intellectual property rights and Washington's nuclear export controls.

"Reaching a settlement is highly likely before Yoon's visit to the U.S. Westinghouse and KEPCO, along with KHNP, have until March 17 this year to address their legal issues. As nuclear technologies have also become a security issue, all parties involved in the legal dispute will have to find a compromise under the principle of reciprocity that won't hurt national interests," said Seok Kwang-hoon, a senior analyst at Energy Transition Korea. Westinghouse officials were not immediately available for comment.

"Westinghouse itself has no question about the significance of its commercial partnership with South Korea given the country's supply chains for future AP1000 nuclear reactors. That means if the ongoing settlement negotiations fail, then this will impact Seoul's efforts to win reactor deals from Poland and the Czech Republic, the countries categorized as South Korea's target markets. It's a plausible idea for South Korean companies to acquire Westinghouse's property rights," said Kim Sang-tae, a professor of nuclear engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul.