ENERGY ASIA: Industry experts expect nuclear revival, US-Asia collaboration

Nuclear power, which is clean and less intermittent than renewables, has regained prominence as a critical pillar supporting Asian countries' decarbonization efforts. Industry experts said at the Energy Asia conference held June 16-18 that nuclear power is expected to become a key agenda item for US-Asia collaboration.

King Lee, head of policy and industry engagement at the World Nuclear Association, said Asia is poised to drive the growth of global nuclear installation capacity.

Lee noted that global nuclear capacity currently totals 400 GW, with Asian countries contributing around 125 GW, or approximately 30%. "Moving forward, the major growth of nuclear is in Asia," he said.

He highlighted that 70% of the 70 GW of global nuclear capacity under construction is in Asia, particularly in China. Lee added that 110 GW of nuclear power plants are in advanced project development stages, with sites and funding allocated for completion within the next 15 years. Half of this capacity will be built in Asia.

Lee shared that forecasts by China's own think tanks show that the country will build up 150 GW of nuclear capacity by 2030 and 335 GW by 2050.

Japan, despite concerns over nuclear safety following the Fukushima incident, has begun reassessing nuclear energy's role in its decarbonization strategy, Lee said. The Japanese government plans for nuclear energy to supply 20% of its electricity by 2040, requiring 37-50 reactors. This will necessitate restarting existing reactors and constructing new ones, he explained.

Lee also noted ambitious nuclear plans in South Korea and India. South Korea aims for nuclear energy to account for 35% of its electricity by 2038, while India plans to expand its nuclear capacity from 8 GW to 100 GW by 2047, leveraging both state-backed companies and private capital.

Small Modular Reactor

Masanori Ijichi, division director of Nuclear Power Plant Projects at Japan's IHI Corporation, said his company is exploring investments in Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technologies. He described SMRs as safer and more suitable for small islands lacking mature transmission networks.

Jon Guidroz, senior vce president of commercialization and strategy at Aalo Atomics, said his company has established a demonstration project in Texas. The SMR reactor is expected to begin operations in 2027 and transition to commercial scaling in 2028-2029.

Guidroz emphasized that the company aims to deliver a licensed product ready for commercialization, rather than just a demonstration project. "We have built a factory such that we can build another factory, ideally in Asia, after we've met some US market demand," he said.