Rep. Heo Sung-moo of the Democratic Party said the National Assembly will support Korean companies' entry into the U.S. market in line with MANUGA (Make America Nuclear Great Again), the United States' initiative to expand its nuclear power sector.
Heo made the remarks Tuesday at a seminar titled "The MANUGA Initiative and the Leap of K-Nuclear Power," held at the National Assembly. "The fact that major countries, including the United States, are accelerating the expansion of new nuclear power, including large reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs), is an important opportunity for us," Heo said. "We will do our utmost to strengthen the competitiveness of the nuclear power industry."
Officials from Korea's nuclear industry also attended the seminar. Park Soo-yong, an executive at Doosan Enerbility, said, "The second Trump administration has announced plans to expand U.S. nuclear power capacity from 100 gigawatts (GW) to 400 GW by 2050. We should seize this as an opportunity to take the lead not only in the U.S. but also in the global nuclear power market."
Academic experts pointed to the legal dispute between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and U.S.-based Westinghouse over nuclear plant orders, saying government-level support is needed. Lee Jong-ho, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, said, "Communication between companies and the government on intellectual property rights negotiations between Korea and the United States is a very important issue. We must guard against the lack of smooth communication on export project experience caused by institutional self-interest."
