GYEONGJU — "Today's consultations are fully booked, and six more companies are waiting tomorrow."
At the 2026 Nuclear Export and Safety Confex (NES 2026), held on the 27th at the Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center (HICO) in North Gyeongsang Province, an official at Bumhan Mechatec — attending for the first time this year — answered a question about buyer interest by holding up a tightly packed consultation schedule. The company, which has manufactured equipment for refining and petrochemical plants, is preparing to enter the nuclear power and small modular reactor (SMR) markets. Its schedule filled up on the opening day as overseas buyers lined up requests for meetings, drawn by its existing equipment manufacturing technology and its plans to produce nuclear components.
As the spread of artificial intelligence raises the importance of stable power supply, Korean companies are gaining a bigger presence in the global nuclear market. Backed by the technology and project execution experience accumulated at the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates and at the new reactor project in the Czech Republic, Korean nuclear power is drawing attention not only in the U.S. but also in Europe and the Middle East. Export expectations rose further after the Korea-U.S. nuclear framework announced on the 1st of this month included cooperation on building eight large reactors in the U.S. in connection with Korean investment there.
Those heightened expectations were evident in the scale of the event. Held for the third time since its launch in 2022, this year's edition drew 77 domestic and foreign companies and institutions, which set up 182 booths. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, 55 overseas buyers took part in the export consultation sessions, up 83.3% from 30 at the 2024 event.
Overseas buyers also focused on Doosan Enerbility (034020.KS), Korea's leading manufacturer of primary nuclear equipment. Eighteen foreign companies applied for export consultations with the firm on that day alone. With visits by overseas clients to its plants also overlapping, the company had to adjust part of its on-site consultation schedule.
An official at Doosan Enerbility said consultations were scheduled with the Jordanian government and an Egyptian state-run construction company, among others, and that a meeting with the Turkish side had also been arranged. "Around the time of the investment in the U.S., we have been receiving many proposals from state governments there asking us to build a plant and invest in their state," the official said.
Behind the interest from overseas clients lies accumulated technology and a record of deliveries. In nuclear projects, delays in supplying core equipment such as reactor vessels and steam generators can cascade into delays in subsequent installation and commissioning work. The longer construction drags on, the heavier the burden of financing costs and labor expenses. That is why the ability to manage quality and delivery schedules matters as much as price.
One overseas buyer who attended said losses in nuclear projects snowball the longer schedules slip, and that the on-time construction record demonstrated at the Barakah plant is the main reason overseas clients turn to Korea, praising Korean technology highly.
Carl Coe, a former chief of staff to the U.S. energy secretary, who spoke in the afternoon, also praised Korea's nuclear construction capabilities. "The U.S. effectively stepped away from the nuclear industry for more than 40 years, leaving it short of workers and supply chains," he said. "Korea has proven it has the capacity to carry out large-scale construction projects that the U.S. can no longer perform as it once did."
