HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun, right, shakes hands with TerraPower Board Chairman Bill Gates after a discussion about a partnership for TerraPower’s future small modular reactors, at a hotel in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of HD Hyundai
Major conglomerates HD Hyundai and SK are spearheading efforts to incorporate Korean industry in TerraPower’s global small modular reactor (SMR) supply chain through talks with Bill Gates, TerraPower’s board chairman, who has been holding meetings with the groups’ heads and top government officials in Korea.
HD Hyundai said its Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Hyundai E&C CEO Lee Han-woo met Gates and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque at a hotel in Seoul on Friday. This marks the first meeting among the top executives since HD Hyundai, TerraPower and Hyundai E&C signed a three-way memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the next-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor business back in May.
During the meeting, they discussed cooperation strategies to commercialize land-based reactors, building on the progress made so far. HD Hyundai plans to accelerate investment in production facilities ahead of commercialization, with the goal of supplying two to three reactor vessels per year.
“Based on a cooperative framework ranging across technology, manufacturing and engineering-procurement-construction, we expect to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation reactors,” Chung said in a statement after the meeting. “We will actively respond to the growing demand for SMR power generation through internal technology development and collaboration with global enterprises.”
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, right, and TerraPower Board Chairman Bill Gates engage in a conversation at Government Complex Seoul, Friday, discussing the future of nuclear power cooperation between Korea and TerraPower. Courtesy of the Prime Minister’s Office
Later the same day, Gates met with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan and National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik.
During the meeting with the industry minister, TerraPower and SK Innovation signed a “term sheet for global joint business promotion,” with Kim, Gates and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won attending the ceremony. The agreement secures opportunities for SK Innovation to participate in TerraPower SMR project development in the U.S. and overseas markets.
HD Hyundai and SK have made financial investments in TerraPower and are building long-term collaboration frameworks, with multiple Korean firms now pursuing roles across TerraPower’s American and overseas projects in equipment supply, operations, and construction.
TerraPower is advancing its Natrium sodium-cooled SMR in Kemmerer, Wyoming, which received construction approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March and is planned to be in commercial operation by 2031.
The Natrium reactor is a fourth-generation SMR that uses sodium instead of water as coolant to transfer heat from the reactor to the steam generator, with each module rated at 345 megawatts. The reactor will be the world’s first commercial coal-to-nuclear conversion project and features an energy storage system that can ramp up output to 500 megawatts during peak demand.
National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik, right, meets TerraPower Board Chairman Bill Gates at the National Assembly, Friday. Courtesy of the National Assembly Speaker’s Office
Minister Kim emphasized that delivering projects on time and within budget is critical for global market expansion, and that Korean companies, with proven execution capacity, can play a central role in realizing TerraPower’s vision. He said that achieving SMR cost competitiveness through “standardized mass deployment” requires combining TerraPower’s standardized designs with Korea’s highly reliable large-scale manufacturing and supply ecosystem.
Over the past 50 years, according to the minister, Korea has built a “foundry-grade” nuclear manufacturing and construction ecosystem through domestic and international projects, making it an optimal partner.
Before their meeting, Doosan Enerbility said it has secured a deal to manufacture key equipment for TerraPower’s U.S. SMR project. Doosan Enerbility did not disclose the value of the deal, but announced that it will manufacture the guard vessel, internal structures and support structures for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor.
Gates’ Seoul visit came amid surging global demand for SMRs, driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers. More than 100 SMR designs are now under development worldwide and companies are forming cross-border alliances to capture the emerging market.
The U.S. is the world’s largest nuclear power market, with a capacity of approximately 95 gigawatts, accounting for 25 percent of the global total. As a significant portion of the nuclear power plants in the U.S. began operating in the 1970s, demand is expected to rise as obsolete reactors reach the end of their lifecycles and need replacement.
