The nuclear power industry in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

The development of the nuclear reactor industry in the Pacific Basin began in the United States and Canada and spread to Japan and, more recently, to South Korea and Taiwan. The American and Canadian industries face serious economic and political difficulties; indeed, their current plight is so severe that their survival no longer seems assured. Because of the key regional role played up to now by the North American industries, and by the U.S. industry in particular, the realization of this scenario would have important repercussions for nuclear trade and investment throughout the region. In the longer run, some basic structural changes would seem likely, with the focal point of industrial strength and technological leadership in the region shifting to Northeast Asia, and to Japan in particular. Already there is evidence of this shift. But the prospect of a smooth, gradual transition toward a new regional industrial structure centered on Japan may be misleading. What is missing from this picture is a full measure of the extent to which nuclear industrial development elsewhere in the region is positively correlated with the trend in the United States.