Democratic lawmaker introduces SMR special law amendment to boost commercialization, exports

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Seong-mu, who represents Changwon's Seongsan District, said Monday he had introduced a bill to amend the Special Act on Promotion and Support for Small Modular Reactor Development to support the commercialization and exports of small modular reactors.

According to Heo, the current law focuses primarily on building a research and development foundation — including technology development, demonstration projects and designation of R&D special zones — leaving a gap in institutional support for the broader industrial ecosystem, including commercialization, export promotion and supply chain development.

As AI industry growth and the proliferation of data centers drive a sharp rise in electricity demand, countries around the world are increasingly looking to SMRs as a next-generation power source. Heo said there is a growing recognition that institutional support must go beyond technology development to cover commercialization and entry into global markets.

The amendment provides comprehensive support for the SMR industrial ecosystem, covering joint implementation by the Minister of Science and ICT and the Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy of master plan development, progress monitoring and reporting to the National Assembly; SMR supply chain stabilization; financial and tax support; SMR promotion zone designation; and commercialization and export support.

"Through this amendment, we will expand the support framework — which has been limited to technology development — to encompass commercialization and exports, so that South Korea can lead the global SMR market and further strengthen the competitiveness of our nuclear power industry," Heo said.