HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun, back row right, shakes hands with TerraPower founder Bill Gates, back row left, in this undated photo taken during a signing ceremony in the United States for a strategic agreement between HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and TerraPower to expand the global manufacturing supply chain for the U.S. firm’s Natrium reactors. In the front row are Won Kwang-shik, right, head of HD HHI’s marine energy business division, and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque. Courtesy of HD Hyundai
By Park Jae-hyuk
HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun met with TerraPower founder Bill Gates, who is best known for co-founding Microsoft.
Their meeting came amid Chung’s recent visit to the United States to participate in the annual five-day CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this week and to look for the Korean shipbuilding giant’s new growth engines in the world’s largest market.
HD Hyundai said Wednesday that its shipbuilding subsidiary, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), signed a strategic agreement with TerraPower to expand the global manufacturing supply chain for the U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) developer’s Natrium reactors.
Both Chung and Gates attended the signing ceremony, along with Won Kwang-shik, head of HD HHI’s marine energy business division, and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque.
The Natrium reactor is a fourth-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor developed by TerraPower, which produces electricity by cooling the heat generated from fast neutron fission with liquid sodium. Among SMRs, it has high safety and technological maturity and generates 40 percent less nuclear waste compared to conventional reactors.
Last December, HD Hyundai signed a contract with TerraPower to supply the cylindrical reactor vessel to be installed in the U.S. firm’s first Natrium reactor.
“We expect that HD Hyundai’s extensive experience and advanced technological capabilities in manufacturing will help build the foundation for commercialization of Natrium reactors,” Won said. “Based on this cooperation, we will accelerate the commercialization of next-generation nuclear energy solutions and create new growth opportunities in the global SMR market.”
Through the latest agreement, the two companies will combine HD Hyundai’s manufacturing expertise with TerraPower’s technology to establish the commercial-scale production capacity needed for the global deployment of Natrium reactors.
In particular, HD Hyundai will develop optimized manufacturing processes to supply key Natrium reactor components. Through this, the company will establish the manufacturing foundation necessary for full-scale commercialization beyond the initial demonstration project.
“TerraPower is working to rapidly deploy Natrium plants in the U.S. and around the world,” Levesque said. “Through cooperation with HD Hyundai, we expect to expand the supply chain and successfully build Natrium reactors to meet growing energy demand.”
