Gaon Cable to make nuclear power plant cables in US
Gaon Cable's U.S. subsidiary, LSCUS, in Tarboro, N.C. / Courtesy of Gaon Cable
Gaon Cable, an affiliate of LS Group, will build production lines for nuclear power plant cables at its U.S. plant in North Carolina, aiming to get ahead in a market expected to grow as the country expands nuclear power, the company said Monday.
The Korean cable maker said its U.S. unit, LS Cable & System U.S.A., will install the equipment at its plant in Tarboro, North Carolina. The move is intended to build a local supply system ahead of the expected expansion of the U.S. market for large nuclear plants and small modular reactors (SMRs), smaller reactors that can be factory-built and installed in modules.
The plant already produces overhead power lines for the U.S. grid. Adding nuclear cables will widen the range of products it makes locally.
The company said the U.S. supply chain for nuclear plant equipment, including cables, remains thin because few new reactors have been built in the country for decades. Interest in new reactors has returned as electricity demand rises with the growing number of artificial intelligence data centers and as energy security becomes a priority.
A single nuclear plant can use more than 50,000 electrical cable circuits for power, control and instrumentation, depending on its design. Because each cable must meet different specifications depending on where and how it is used, nuclear cables are typically produced in small batches across many types.
The U.S. unit plans to obtain the necessary certifications using Gaon Cable’s special cable technology and to work with Korean nuclear companies to enter the local supply chain.
The industry expects demand for nuclear cables to keep rising with new large reactors and SMRs, while existing plants that extend their operating lives will need to replace aging cables.
“We expect new opportunities to open for local equipment suppliers as the U.S. nuclear market grows and Korean companies’ participation in U.S. projects picks up,” a company official said.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.