US and Japan announce $40B nuclear power development initiative

US & Japan – (Web Desk) – The United States and Japan said on Thursday they will work together on a $40 billion plan to build nuclear reactors in Tennessee and Alabama. The decision came after a meeting between President Donald Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington.

This move follows Japan’s earlier promise to invest $550 billion in the US by 2029 under a new trade deal. Both countries are now starting to put that plan into action.

They also shared plans to spend $33 billion on natural gas power projects in Pennsylvania and Texas. Earlier this year, they had already announced $36 billion for three major infrastructure projects.

Leaders from both sides said these projects will help grow their economies and make their partnership even stronger. They believe it will open a new chapter in their long-standing alliance.

The new reactors, called small modular reactors, will be built by GE Vernova Hitachi. These reactors are expected to provide steady and reliable power. They can also help control electricity prices and support new technology growth in both countries.

Both sides also released an action plan on developing critical mineral supply chains, amid concerns about China’s dominant role in the sector.

It includes discussing coordinated trade policies and mechanisms, such as border-adjusted price floors, “focusing in the first instance on select critical minerals.”

The two nations will also cooperate on development of deep-sea critical minerals, “including rare-earth muds near Japan’s Minamitorishima Island,” the White House said.

Minamitorishima is an isolated Japanese coral atoll about 1,950 kilometres (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo.

Sediment containing rare earths was collected by a Japanese deep-sea scientific drilling boat that set sail in January for the island, whose surrounding waters are believed to contain a trove of valuable minerals.