IAEA ministerial nuclear conference lands in Korea: SMR acceleration pledge
Where it stands: The IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy is being held in South Korea for the first time. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon delivered the keynote, calling for small modular reactor development and demonstration to accelerate. The pledge is a statement of intent, with no funding amount, named project, schedule or vendor attached. The next sign of substance would be those specifics being announced.
- (2026-10-27, ~8:25 AM ET, fnnews — en.fnnews.com/news): The IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy is being held in South Korea for the first time, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon delivered the keynote, framed under the heading "SMR development and demonstration to accelerate." The pledge is intent, not program: no funding figure, named project, schedule, or vendor in the report.