With President Trump’s agenda to quadruple US civil nuclear energy, the United States has reentered the global nuclear energy race. However, this winning strategy may not be possible without strategic cooperation from the United States’ key industry partner, South Korea.

Note: This article is part of the Center’s symposium on nuclear energy. To read other articles in the symposium, go here.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump announced high-hitting goals to quadruple US civil nuclear energy production—aiming to add 300 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity domestically—by 2050.

Through a series of executive orders, the Trump administration launched a robust agenda to reinvigorate the US nuclear industrial base through the “development, demonstration, deployment, and export of United States-designed advanced nuclear technologies.” Domestically, the US administration aims to streamline licensing, expand pilot programs for advanced reactors, and accelerate R&D initiatives for fuel recycling and production.

Globally, the Trump administration has called for amping up US-led nuclear energy exports, targeting at least twenty new bilateral peaceful nuclear cooperation partnerships, also known as 123 Agreements, within the next five years.

To reach this goal, South Korea—a strategic US security and energy partner in the Indo-Pacific—should be a likely collaborator in not only supporting US domestic infrastructure growth but also in establishing a competitive nuclear export package against Russia and China’s growing influence in the advanced nuclear reactor market.

Global Nuclear Landscape: Risks & Rewards

Alongside the domestic buildup, Trump’s push for global “energy dominance” requires a realistic assessment of today’s competitive international market for advanced nuclear reactor exports. While US nuclear regulation and technology are globally recognized, nuclear export projects in recent decades have been dominated primarily by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom—currently leading the construction of nuclear facilities in seven countries—and, increasingly, China’s rapidly expanding state-backed nuclear industry.

Today, Beijing is aggressively moving to dominate the future of civil nuclear energy. Boasting a domestic nuclear fleet of 58 operable reactors and an additional 33 reactors under........

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