Korean nuclear companies to benefit from EU’s revised Net-Zero Industry Act

Nuclear energy will be among the 17 technologies included in the European Union’s Net-Zero Industry Act, which is dubbed as the European version of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The bill, once it goes into effect, is expected to pave the way for South Korean nuclear reactor operators to make inroads into Europe.

The European Parliament on Tuesday voted to include 17 technologies, including renewable energy and carbon capture, in the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act.

The list of covered technologies includes nuclear energy (fission and fusion) and small modular reactors (SMRs). The initial draft proposed earlier by the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, did not include the nuclear technologies.

The latest addition was led by the conservative European People’s Party, the biggest political group in the parliament, which sees nuclear technology as a strategy for carbon neutrality.

The revision is good news for the Korean nuclear industry.

“The revised bill reflects that European states, such as the U.K. and France, are now less willing to phase out nuclear power plants, amid today’s energy crisis worsening in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war,” said an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. “That echoes Korea’s zero-carbon energy strategy, focusing on nuclear power plants.”

The bill, in the meantime, requires trilateral negotiation among the parliament, the National Commissions of member states, and the European Commission, which may lead to changes in the content.