There is something interesting about the results of US President Joe Biden's visit to South Korea at the end of last May. It was mentioned that the two allied countries agreed to develop small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) technology. Although it does not specify the direction of SMR adoption, the implementation of SMR has so far been applied to nuclear submarines belonging to the US Navy.
Quoted from Navalnews.com (1/6/2022), SMR is a nuclear reactor that has a maximum power generation capacity of less than 300 megawatts. This type of reactor has been used in nuclear submarines for decades, although recent studies have also developed SMRs for civilian purposes. Experts from both countries say that securing SMR technology is an important step in developing nuclear submarine designs.
US President Joseph Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol committed to collaboration on the development of greater nuclear energy and accelerate the development and global deployment of advanced reactors and small modular reactors by jointly using export promotion tools and capacity building, as well as building supply chains better nuclear.
The concrete result of this collaboration is that South Korea will join the US-led Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) program.
South Korea does have the potential to develop nuclear submarines (K-SSN). According to a source familiar with the situation, a "technical briefing" on the potential acquisition of nuclear submarines is underway.
The meeting is said to have been attended by officials from South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the South Korean Navy, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and a large foreign company with expertise in nuclear submarine building.
From the military aspect, there are actually two options for adopting a nuclear reactor for South Korea, besides nuclear submarines, there is also the concept of building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVX).
However, the idea of a nuclear submarine did not get support from the South Korean Defense Minister. Finally, the nuclear aircraft carrier program, which was initiated by Navy officials in the previous government, was stopped by President Yoon's government. And now speculation is growing that the new administration may be planning to build nuclear submarines instead.
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