South Korea plans to build two new large-scale nuclear reactors by 2038. Credit: SkazovD via Shutterstock. “While it would be ideal to rely entirely on renewable energy, Korea’s reality as an isolated power grid makes that extremely difficult,” Kim said, stressing that nuclear power remains unavoidable. The society noted that even maintaining the current 30% share of nuclear power would require at least 20 new reactors by 2050. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) will now begin a public bidding process to select host sites in the coming months. Under the 11th Basic Plan, nuclear power generation is expected to grow from 180.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023 to 248.3TWh in 2038.