South Korean nuclear power-related stocks showed broad strength on the 25th. With power demand forecasts rising sharply on the back of expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and semiconductor investment, the addition of U.S. nuclear supply chain support policies has fueled expectations for new nuclear plant orders both domestically and internationally, stimulating investor sentiment.<\/p>\n
As of 10:14 a.m. that day, KEPCO E&C was trading at 100,000 won (approximately $72), up 10.74% from the previous trading day. Hyundai Engineering & Construction rose 9.56% to 115,700 won (approximately $84), while Doosan Enerbility gained 3.97% to 75,900 won (approximately $55).<\/p>\n
The structural increase in South Korea’s power demand underpins the buying across the entire nuclear value chain. In the process of formulating the 12th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand, the re-projected 2040 peak power target demand was calculated at 158.4 GW under the baseline scenario. This represents a 20.2% increase from the 131.8 GW figure presented in April. Analysts suggest that the two previously planned new large-scale nuclear reactors alone may be insufficient to meet the growing power demand.<\/p>\n
Overseas momentum also supported the stock gains. With the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) deciding to provide $17.5 billion (approximately 24.2 trillion won) in supply chain loan support, expectations are growing that U.S. power utilities will begin announcing new nuclear plant initiatives starting in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n
There are also forecasts that the initial public offering (IPO) of Holtec, a key partner of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the restart of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, and the groundbreaking on a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project will collectively lift nuclear investment sentiment. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is pursuing the global expansion of the large-scale AP1000 reactor in partnership with Westinghouse.<\/p>\n
Jang Moon-joon, an analyst at KB Securities, said, “Although stock performance was sluggish in the second half, the period from the second half of 2026 through 2027 represents the most critical window for nuclear investment,” adding that “the outline of South Korea’s investment in the U.S. nuclear industry will also become clearer during the second half.” He maintained a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of 170,000 won on Hyundai Engineering & Construction, naming it the top pick in the nuclear sector.<\/p>\n
The prevailing interpretation is that the synchronized rally in nuclear power-related stocks reflects a revaluation based on structural factors\u2014rising power demand and policy support\u2014rather than a short-term thematic move. With power consumption from AI data centers and semiconductor clusters rising steeply, nuclear power is being re-evaluated for its role as a stable baseload power source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Korean nuclear power-related stocks showed broad strength on the 25th. With power demand forecasts rising sharply on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[66500,409,66948,295,15637,294,293,66949,466,66947,66950,9104,4687],"class_list":["post-131319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hyundai","tag-ap1000","tag-doosan-enerbility","tag-holtec","tag-hyundai","tag-hyundai-engineering-construction","tag-hyundai-group","tag-hyundai-motor-group","tag-jang-moon-joon","tag-kb-securities","tag-kepco-ec","tag-palisades-nuclear-plant","tag-small-modular-reactor","tag-u-s-department-of-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}