South Korea Bets $120 Billion on US Nuclear Reactors

South Korea has agreed to invest $120 billion to build eight nuclear reactors in the United States, according to the country’s government, in one of the largest single cross-border energy commitments announced this year. Two of the reactors would use South Korea’s own APR1400 design, a domestically developed pressurized water reactor that the country has already exported to the United Arab Emirates.

The nuclear plan sits alongside a broader package of energy and infrastructure projects between the two countries. Officials said a joint venture worth $22.3 billion will build a natural gas power plant in Texas capable of producing 6.47 gigawatts of electricity, with commercial operation targeted before 2029. The plant’s stated purpose is to supply power to artificial intelligence data centers, whose electricity demand has become a pressing constraint on the industry’s growth.

Specific nuclear sites and schedules have not been finalized, and the government said it is still working through details. It also said it hopes to push domestic companies toward taking an equity stake in Westinghouse Electric, the American nuclear technology firm. That ambition hints at a longer game: Seoul wants its reactor builders to win a permanent foothold in the US market rather than simply supply equipment.

The package extends to natural gas as well. The two countries will jointly assess the Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal project, with officials stressing that it will move forward only if it meets commercial and legal conditions. That caveat matters, because Alaska LNG has been discussed for years without reaching a final investment decision.

For South Korea, the deal is a chance to convert its nuclear engineering expertise into overseas revenue. The APR1400 was developed from earlier Westinghouse-licensed technology, and the two countries have clashed over intellectual property in the past, so the proposed Westinghouse investment carries strategic as well as financial weight. For the United States, the appeal is straightforward: foreign capital and Korean construction capacity to add firm, low-carbon power at a time when data centers are straining grids.

The timing reflects a wider scramble for electricity. AI training and inference require enormous, constant power, and technology companies have increasingly turned to nuclear and gas as alternatives to intermittent renewables. Gas plants can be built faster than reactors, which is why the Texas project is scheduled to come online first, while the nuclear units serve as a longer-term bet.

The scale of the numbers also raises questions. Funding eight reactors at $120 billion implies a large per-unit cost, and nuclear construction in the West has a long record of delays and budget overruns. Whether the reactors are built on time, and whether Korean firms capture the manufacturing and operating work they expect, will determine if the investment pays off.

For global readers, the deal is a useful signal of where energy money is heading. It shows how AI’s appetite for power is reshaping national industrial policy, and how a mid-sized exporting economy like South Korea is using energy diplomacy to lock in long-term commercial relationships with its most important ally.