The United States and Japan have announced a $40 billion nuclear energy investment project

After the leaders of the United States and Japan met in Washington, they announced the launch of a $40 billion nuclear energy project, to build nuclear reactors in Tennessee and Alabama of the United States.

AFP reported that US President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Masahiko issued a joint statement on small modular reactors (SMR) after their meeting at the White House on Thursday (March 19th). The $40 billion nuclear energy project is part of the new trade agreement reached between the US and Japan last year. According to the agreement, Japan will invest $550 billion in the US by 2029.

The joint statement also announced that Japan will invest 33 billion US dollars in Pennsylvania and Texas to build natural gas power generation facilities.

The two countries announced the first batch of projects for the new investment fund in February, committing to investing 36 billion US dollars in three infrastructure projects.

The statement on Thursday said that these projects would "accelerate the economic growth of both countries and pave the way for a new golden era of the evolving Japan-US alliance", in order to ensure security.

On Thursday, the United States and Japan also released an action plan on developing the supply chain for critical minerals, in response to concerns over China's dominant position in this field. The plan includes discussions on coordinated trade policies and mechanisms, such as setting lower price limits at the border, and "prioritizing selected critical minerals first".