The 6223 Future Forum Holds its 11th Symposium, “Future Vision of Korean SMR,” Highlighting Energy Security and Industrial Competitiveness.

Chairman Lee Chae-pil: “Electricity prices dictate employment and survival; urgent need for 24/7 carbon-free SMR infrastructure.”
Prof. Joo Han-gyu: “Focus must be on proactive regulation and commercial demonstration of SMRs.”
Doosan Enerbility’s Lee Ji-hoon: “Strengthening South Korea’s position as an SMR foundry amid the AI boom.”

The 6223 Future Forum (Chairman Lee Chae-pil) successfully hosted its 11th symposium under the theme “Future Vision of Korean SMR” at the Korea Press Center Maewha Hall in Seoul.

The symposium brought together prominent figures from academia, industry, and related institutions to discuss strategies for commercializing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as a core power source to cope with the explosive surge in electricity demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) era and to maintain the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing.

In his opening remarks, 6223 Future Forum Chairman Lee Chae-pil emphasized, “The ‘manufacturing exodus’—where companies relocate overseas to escape excessive energy costs—is a matter of national survival. We must learn a hard lesson from Germany’s failure, where energy policies driven by ideology reduced the nation to the ‘sick man of Europe.’”

He added, “Electricity is the fundamental infrastructure for national strategic industries such as AI and semiconductors. We must proactively build Korean-style SMRs, which offer secure sites, modular economic efficiency, and high safety standards.”

Key Presentations: Addressing the AI Power Crisis

During the first presentation titled “SMR Development Status and Pre-requisites for Commercialization,” Prof. Joo Han-gyu of Seoul National University (former president of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) noted, “With the expansion of AI data centers, uninterrupted 24/7 power supply has emerged as the top priority. Given the clear limitations of renewable energy due to intermittency and site constraints, an appropriate energy mix with SMRs is essential.”

Prof. Joo stressed, “To accelerate the demonstration of SMART100, i-SMR, and Generation IV reactors (SFR, HTGR, MSR), we must proactively establish SMR-dedicated regulatory processes, secure initial government support, and exercise selective focus on promising reactor designs.”

The second presenter, Lee Ji-hoon, Senior Vice President at Doosan Enerbility, delivered a presentation on “Megatrends in the Nuclear Market: AI x SMR,” shedding light on big tech companies' moves to adopt SMRs and global nuclear trends.

“Doosan Enerbility is building manufacturing technology innovations and supply chains through partnerships with global SMR leaders,” SVP Lee stated. “We will focus our capabilities so that South Korea can lead the global market as an international SMR manufacturing and supply hub (foundry).”

Panel Discussion and Future Outlook

A panel discussion was moderated by Jung Man-ki, former Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. Distinguished panelists included Kim Ik-rae (Advisor, KHNP), Cho Yoon-ki (Senior VP, POSCO E&C), Kim Dae-ho (Auditor, KNF), Joo Sang-hyun (Former CEO, KHNP Industrial Development), and Lee Han-woo (Head of Energy Technology, Ulsan TechnoPark). They offered diverse execution strategies for SMR commercialization, covering areas such as strengthening public-private cooperation, improving licensing and legal systems, and expanding the supply chain.

Building on the recommendations derived from this symposium, the 6223 Future Forum plans to petition the government and the National Assembly for relevant policies. Furthermore, the forum intends to spearhead private-led SMR business ventures linked to regional industrial bases like Ulsan, while expanding into new industries such as nuclear-powered icebreakers for the Arctic route.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]