The US, Japan and South Korea signed a trilateral framework cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara to accelerate the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in other countries.
According to a statement from the US State Department, the cooperation will initially focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
The memorandum of understanding aims to leverage the complementary strengths of the three countries in civilian nuclear energy to support shared security interests and meet the energy security needs of partner countries.
The agreement seeks to reduce project development risks by promoting fleet deployment models, achieve economies of scale, stimulate private investment, streamline licensing processes and optimize supply chains.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said small modular reactors are the future of energy, describing them as a 'safe, efficient and economically advantageous solution'.
Rubio recalled the supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran war, which severely affected global energy flows, and stressed the importance of energy security.
The US has allocated more than $10 million to the State Department's FIRST program to support the safe deployment of SMRs in the Indo-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, GE Vernova, Hitachi, Samsung C&T and SGE have decided to cooperate on the deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor across Europe.
The NATO summit in Ankara brings together leaders of the 32 member countries and key partners to address Europe's defense capacity, NATO defense spending targets, military modernization and the continuation of support for Ukraine.
South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, while not NATO members, have been invited as guests to the summits since 2022. The gathering in Ankara marks Turkey's second time hosting a NATO summit, following the 2004 Istanbul summit.
