Entering office, one of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s most ambitious goals was to restore the country’s nuclear industry to its past glory. Not only did he promise to end his predecessor’s nuclear phaseout and restart the canceled construction of two new reactors in South Korea, he also pledged to export 10 nuclear power plants by 2030. 

But South Korea’s nuclear future will not solely be about competing for multi-billion-dollar commercial nuclear power plants abroad. A host of South Korean companies are getting involved at the other end of the scale, signing partnerships in multiple countries aimed at solidifying their position in the burgeoning market of small modular reactors (SMRs). If that technology proves successful, Korean companies will be in line for a significant slice of a market that could reach hundreds of billions of dollars every year.