[Heavy Industries ON] K-SMR Heats Up with Bill Gates’s Visit... Companies Flock to TerraPower

Doosan, HD Hyundai, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Target the U.S. SMR Supply Chain
SK Innovation Expands Collaboration Beyond Investment to Business Development
Next-Generation Nuclear Power Market Accelerates Amid Surging AI Electricity Demand

With Bill Gates, the founder of TerraPower, visiting Korea, leading domestic companies are accelerating their efforts in the small modular reactor (SMR) business. SK Innovation is expanding its role from investor to business development partner, while HD Hyundai and Hyundai Engineering & Construction focus on manufacturing and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). Doosan Enerbility is responsible for producing key equipment. Together, these companies are steadily entering the next-generation nuclear power supply chain centered around TerraPower.

(Front row from the right) Hyungwook Choo, CEO of SK Innovation, and Chris Leveck, CEO of TerraPower, signed a memorandum of understanding on key conditions for SMR business cooperation on the 14th at Seonhye-won, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and (back row from the right) SK Group Chairman Taewon Choi, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Jeongkwan Kim, and Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board of TerraPower, posed for a commemorative photo together. SK Innovation

According to industry sources on August 15, during his visit to Korea, Chairman Gates met with the management of several major Korean companies to discuss collaboration on SMRs. On August 14, Jung Ki-sun, Executive Chair of HD Hyundai, held talks with Chairman Gates, Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, and Hanwoo Lee, CEO of Hyundai Engineering & Construction. It was the first time the top executives of the three companies had gathered together since they signed a "three-party memorandum of understanding (MOU) for collaboration on next-generation sodium reactor projects" in May this year.

On the same day, Taewon Chey, Chairman of SK Group, also met with Chairman Gates to discuss ways to respond to power demand driven by the expansion of AI data centers and the development direction of the next-generation nuclear power industry. SK Innovation and TerraPower signed a memorandum of agreement on the main conditions for business collaboration, aiming to expand the global deployment of sodium SMRs and review their applicability in Korea.

Combining TerraPower Technology with Korean Manufacturing, Construction, and Business Development Capabilities

On the 14th, Jung Ki-sun, Chairman of HD Hyundai, met with Bill Gates, founder and chairman of TerraPower, to discuss mutual cooperation measures. HD Hyundai

Korean companies are leveraging their respective strengths to enter TerraPower's SMR value chain.

Doosan Enerbility has won contracts to manufacture the reactor guard vessel, reactor support structures, and reactor internal structures for TerraPower's sodium reactor. These key components will be supplied to the initial unit under construction in Kemmerer, Wyoming, USA. Following a contract signed in December 2024 for the manufacturability assessment of the key equipment, the partnership has now moved forward to the actual manufacturing stage.

HD Hyundai is in charge of manufacturing the main equipment. After winning the contract in December 2024 to supply the reactor vessel for the sodium reactor, the company was designated in May this year as the preferred bidder for the production and supply of core main equipment. HD Hyundai plans to establish a production system capable of supplying two to three reactor vessels annually in the future. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is responsible for EPC.

SK Innovation is focused on business development. Together with SK Inc., SK Innovation invested a total of 250 million US dollars in TerraPower in 2022, becoming its second-largest shareholder. Through the latest agreement, both companies plan to expand participation in the first Kemmerer unit and subsequent commercial projects, as well as to outline in detail the development strategy for the Korean sodium SMR model, the 'K-Sodium', using domestic supply chains.

Ultimately, TerraPower will provide the reactor technology, while Korean companies contribute manufacturing, EPC, and business development capabilities. Notably, cooperation, which was previously limited to investment, MOUs, and technology reviews, is now advancing to the actual production of key equipment, investment in production facilities, and participation in follow-up projects.

AI Drives SMR Growth... Kemmerer as the First Test Case

TerraPower's advanced SMR construction site located in Kemmerer, Wyoming, USA, with SK as a shareholder. Photo by Yonhap News

The driving force behind Korean companies' focus on SMRs is the sharp increase in electricity demand, particularly from AI data centers. As the importance of supplying large-scale, stable 24-hour electricity grows, nuclear power is drawing renewed attention for its ability to serve as a baseload power source while reducing carbon emissions.

TerraPower’s 'Sodium' reactor is a Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). By coupling a 345MW-class reactor with an energy storage system, maximum output can be increased to 500MW when needed. Main customers are expected to include AI data centers and other facilities that require both stable power supply and output adjustability.

The very first test site is the Kemmerer project in Wyoming, USA. If the initial unit is successfully commercialized, further orders using the same technology are likely to follow, making it crucial for Korean companies to secure an early track record of supplying key components.

With Doosan Enerbility responsible for key equipment, HD Hyundai for main equipment manufacturing, Hyundai Engineering & Construction for EPC, and SK Innovation for investment and business development, Korean companies are staking out positions across the supply chain. Industry watchers are closely monitoring whether the concrete advances in cooperation prompted by Bill Gates’s visit will lead to follow-up projects in the U.S. and an entry into the global SMR market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.