The USS Louisville nuclear submarine in Phuket, Thailand, April 2018. As Washington and Seoul negotiate a nuclear submarine partnership, an AUKUS-style arrangement could strengthen the alliance while avoiding the proliferation risks associated with domestic fuel production. (Shutterstock/The Mariner 4291)

How an AUKUS-Style Arrangement Could Help South Korea Produce Nuclear-Powered Submarines

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An agreement between the US and South Korea could avoid nuclear proliferation risks.

Last week, South Korean envoys and US officials began hammering out how to build and fuel nuclear submarines for Seoul without bringing Seoul to the brink of bomb making. They haven’t yet sorted this out, but the AUKUS model could help avoid the worst by having Seoul build the submarines in South Korea and fuel them with uranium enriched in the United States. 

President Donald Trump should tell Seoul to wait on making nuclear fuel for its civil reactors. Getting Iran and its neighbors to forswear these activities will be hard enough without egging South Korea on to lean into them

Seoul won’t like this. But letting it make its own nuclear fuel is neither necessary nor desirable.

South Korea’s Nuclear Submarine Ambitions Raise Old Questions 

Last November, President Trump met with President Lee Jae-myung and announced a “50-50 joint venture” to build and fuel nuclear........

© The National Interest