The Wall Street Journal: "Hanwha Philadelphia Shipyard Can Build a Nuclear Submarine? Trump-style Revival of the US Shipbuilding Industry Becomes More Difficult"
The Hanwha Philadelphia Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has become the core axis of the Trump administration's strategy to "revive American shipbuilding." Hanwha has started a large-scale investment, but with the recent possibility of building nuclear submarines, the project has become much more difficult.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 10th commented: "The most ambitious shipbuilding project in the United States has become more difficult." It pointed out that the original plan was mainly for commercial ships and military supply vessels, but now adding the task of building nuclear submarines, a highly complex mission, has significantly increased the project's risks.
Hanwha acquired the previously loss-making Philadelphia Shipyard for $100 million (about 14.56 billion won), and announced an investment of $5 billion (about 728.4 billion won) to modernize the facilities. The goal is to increase annual shipbuilding capacity from one to twenty, hire thousands of new employees, and completely replace large cranes, robots, and painting facilities, effectively rebuilding the shipyard. In a situation where the proportion of shipbuilding in the United States is less than 1% globally, South Korea plans to transplant its large-scale shipbuilding system to the United States, aiming to "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)."
But with President Trump recently mentioning that "nuclear submarines for the South Korean Navy could be built in Philadelphia," the situation has become complicated. South Korea has no experience in building nuclear submarines, and the United States has always strictly controlled the transfer of nuclear power technology to allies. South Korean Defense Minister An Gyu-bok publicly expressed concerns, stating: "The Philadelphia Shipyard has significant limitations in terms of technology, human resources, and facilities. It might be faster to produce domestically." Building a nuclear submarine requires extremely complex procedures such as integrating nuclear reactors, ultra-low noise design, radiation safety standards, military secrecy approvals, and also involves considerable technical sharing within the United States.
The Wall Street Journal reported that human resource issues are also a major obstacle. Less than 10% of the employees at the Philadelphia Shipyard are Korean, and there is a shortage of skilled welders, pipefitters, and personnel with atomic energy quality certifications in the U.S. Although the number of applicants for apprentice programs has tripled, thousands of senior technicians are still needed to undertake the nuclear submarine project. Additionally, it is necessary to rebuild the actually collapsed military and nuclear-powered vessel supply chain in the U.S., which has also become a burden.
There are also political and institutional risks. According to U.S. law, it is generally prohibited to build military and commercial ships abroad, so without congressional approval, it is impossible to share this project with South Korea. Technology transfer, regional politics, union opposition, budget reviews, and other factors are long-term variables.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out: "If the Philadelphia Shipyard succeeds, it may become a model for the revival of other American shipyards. But it also requires political continuity, substantial capital, and a large number of skilled workers." Simply increasing commercial ship production and modernizing the shipyard is already the biggest challenge in decades. Adding a national-level project like a "nuclear submarine" makes the difficulty significantly higher. Therefore, some evaluations suggest that the U.S. shipbuilding industry revival, which has been advocated by Trump since taking office, has now gone beyond mere industrial reconstruction, becoming a "huge project" that needs to solve extremely complex puzzles in all areas including experience, technology, security, politics, manpower, and supply chains.
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848464592553417/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.