South Korea to build two new nuclear reactors by 2038

• a day ago (2026-01-26)
• David Flin

Asia 994 Nuclear 720

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Kim Sung-whan, South Korea’s Climate Minister, said that the country will construct two new nuclear reactors by 2038 at the latest.

Kim said that the government will conduct necessary procedures to complete the two reactors between 2037 and 2038 as detailed in the 11th Basic Plan. Under the plan, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will begin a bidding process to select the host cities or towns for the two new reactors by 2027. KHNP aims to receive approval for the plan and complete construction by 2038.

Kim said: “To respond to climate change, carbon emissions must be reduced across all sectors, and to cut carbon emissions in the energy sector, it is necessary to reduce power generation by coal and LNG. Therefore, we need power system operations that are centred on renewable energy and nuclear power.”