Gaon Cable (000500.KS), a subsidiary of LS Cable & System, will produce cables designed for nuclear power plants in the United States, expanding its power infrastructure business.
Gaon Cable said on the 12th that it plans to install production equipment for nuclear power plant cables at its plant in Tarboro, North Carolina, through its U.S. manufacturing unit, LSCUS. The timing has not been decided, but the company said it can expand quickly once it secures nuclear power customers, because a production line for medium-voltage cables used in artificial intelligence data centers is already running at the plant.
Cables for nuclear power plants are low-volume, high-variety products that require different specifications and performance levels depending on where and how they are used. A single nuclear reactor uses more than 50,000 cable circuits for power, control and measurement. Gaon Cable plans to obtain product certification for nuclear power cables in the United States and to pursue partnerships with Korean nuclear power companies to gain an early foothold in the local market.
In the United States, surging power demand from AI data centers is driving increased investment not only in large nuclear reactors but also in small modular reactors (SMRs). Because few new nuclear plants have been built for a long period, supply chains for equipment such as nuclear power cables remain insufficient. As a result, the U.S. nuclear power market is drawing attention as a new opportunity for Korean companies with expertise in both cables and nuclear power.
"If the U.S. nuclear power market expands and Korean companies begin participating in U.S. projects in earnest, we expect new opportunities to open up for local equipment suppliers," a Gaon Cable official said. "Based on our experience producing a range of power and control cables and LSCUS's local manufacturing base, we will actively pursue the U.S. nuclear power market."
The company also plans to invest $50 million (about 66.9 billion won) in the Tarboro plant by April next year to double its existing medium-voltage cable capacity.