Legislation moving through South Korea’s parliament will create an “investable framework” for the development and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) including the creation industrial zones that co-locate regulators, suppliers and universities, an industry expert has said.

Jeong Lee, a professor in the department of nuclear and quantum engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said the cross-party legislation will also create a dedicated fund for research and development and levy a transparent charge on electricity sales to pre-finance decommissioning and waste management.