President Biden and President Moon met in May of 2021 and agreed to cooperate on nuclear exports. The decision was hailed by the nuclear community, but the direction and details of such an agreement have yet to be discussed. Collaboration is possible on many issues including nuclear safety, the supply chain, human capital, and utilizing established international relationships to find new export markets. Challenges to expanding the joint export market include differences of opinion on the necessity of the “123 Agreement” and resolving unnecessary and prolonged tension regarding pyro processing and intellectual property litigation around Korea’s APR1400+ reactor. The United States and the Republic of Korea have a history of cooperation; this history should be built on, but there has also been a history of competition. Cooperation among competitors is not easy, but it happens in industry and governments should be the same. Like-minded democratic countries and their industries should come together to stand up to Russian and Chinese threats. Allowing both countries’ strengths to complement the other’s weakness can be beneficial to expanding new technologies and countering authoritarian threats.
