Home to 243 Nuclear Firms, Gyeongnam Pushes SMR From Research to Industry

South Gyeongsang Province, or Gyeongnam, said on the 13th that it welcomes the proposal of a revised bill expanding the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) special act from a focus on "research and development" to a focus on "industry promotion." Attention is turning to whether Gyeongnam, home to 243 nuclear firms and the nation's largest nuclear manufacturing hub, will see its long-standing efforts on regulatory improvement bear fruit.

Rep. Heo Sung-moo of the Democratic Party (Seongsan-gu, Changwon) on the same day was the lead sponsor of a partial amendment to the Special Act on the Promotion and Support of SMR Development. The bill expands the current SMR special act, defined around research and development, to include industrial promotion functions covering manufacturing, commercialization and exports, and establishes a basis for designating SMR promotion special zones.

The amendment includes provisions for the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment to jointly pursue the establishment of basic and implementation plans and the operation of a promotion committee. It also includes measures to comprehensively support the SMR industrial ecosystem, such as stabilizing the SMR supply chain, providing financial and tax support, designating promotion special zones, and supporting commercialization and exports.

The province, which has made SMR a future flagship industry and a key growth axis under the ninth popularly elected local government, has steadily worked on regulatory improvement to advance this amendment. Based on the opinions of industry, academia and research institutions, including nuclear firms, it has continuously proposed the creation of SMR special zones and the expansion of export and tax support to the government and the National Assembly.

In particular, it held two National Assembly debate sessions in March and June, where the National Assembly, the government and industry discussed directions for regulatory improvement together, and it has advanced the preparation of the revised bill through continued consultations with lawmakers' offices.

Gyeongnam, where 243 nuclear firms are clustered, ranks No. 1 nationwide in both nuclear manufacturing revenue and manufacturing workforce, making it Korea's largest nuclear manufacturing hub. The province has strengthened its manufacturing capabilities to build a global SMR manufacturing foundry through the establishment of an SMR robot-based manufacturing support center and a manufacturing parts testing and inspection support center, as well as innovative manufacturing technology development.

The province expects that if the amendment passes National Assembly review, it will become an important legal foundation supporting industry promotion, including special zone designation and tax support. It plans to concentrate its administrative efforts to ensure that the needs of local industry are faithfully reflected in the National Assembly review and the enactment of subordinate legislation.

Lee Mi-hwa, director of Gyeongnam's industry bureau, said, "For the SMR industry to grow continuously, institutional support to build an industrial ecosystem is important." She added, "We will strive to ensure that opinions from Gyeongnam's industrial sites are faithfully reflected in the National Assembly review of the amendment, the enactment of subordinate legislation, and the establishment of the SMR basic plan."