HD Hyundai is broadening its portfolio to include the next-generation nuclear power plant business based on the technological prowess it has accumulated in the shipbuilding and offshore plant sectors. The company appears to be accelerating its efforts to target the future energy market, moving beyond a business structure centered on shipbuilding.

According to the shipbuilding industry on May 26, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, a shipbuilding affiliate of HD Hyundai, recently signed a ‘Framework Agreement (FA) on the supply of Natrium reactors’ with the United States nuclear company TerraPower.

TerraPower is a next-generation nuclear power plant company established in 2008 by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. With this agreement, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was selected as the preferred bidder for the manufacturing and supply of core equipment for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor primary equipment (RES).

The two companies signed a ‘strategic agreement to expand the manufacturing supply chain for the commercialization of Natrium reactors’ in March 2025 and have been conducting joint research on manufacturing feasibility, price competitiveness, and delivery schedules.

HD Hyundai won a project to manufacture a cylindrical reactor vessel from TerraPower in December 2024 and is currently manufacturing it. The reactor vessel is scheduled to be installed in a 4th-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) with a capacity of 345MW, which TerraPower will install in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in the US.

Previously, HD Hyundai invested $30 million in TerraPower in November 2022, embarking on full-scale investments in small modular reactor (SMR) technology, a next-generation energy source. Since then, HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun has directly met with TerraPower Chairman Bill Gates and the management team to discuss ways to expand the supply chain and cooperate on commercialization, leading the business expansion.

An SMR refers to a small nuclear reactor that integrates major equipment such as a steam generator, coolant pump, and pressurizer into a single vessel. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) classifies reactors with a capacity of 300MW or less as small reactors.

The industry sees this agreement as highly significant in that it expands the role into a commercial reactor supply chain in the future, going beyond a simple demonstration project. Analysts also say that HD Hyundai is broadening its business portfolio into the nuclear power sector by utilizing its existing shipbuilding and offshore plant manufacturing technologies.

The ‘Natrium reactor’, which is the core of this cooperation, is a 4th-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR)-based nuclear power plant developed by TerraPower.

SFR, a type of SMR, is characterized by using liquid molten metallic sodium as a coolant. Unlike existing light-water or heavy-water reactors, it is drawing attention as a next-generation nuclear power plant as it causes nuclear fission reactions using high-energy fast neutrons.

In particular, liquid sodium used as a coolant has a high boiling point, enabling stable operation even under atmospheric pressure. It is explained that even if the external power supply is cut off and the cooling pump stops, natural circulation cooling is possible, thereby lowering the possibility of risks such as the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Another feature is that it can recycle spent nuclear fuel from existing light-water reactors. It also has the advantages of significantly increasing the utilization efficiency of uranium, which serves as the reactor’s fuel, and reducing the amount of highly toxic radioactive waste generated. However, the risk of fire if sodium comes into contact with air or water is considered a challenge to be resolved.

Amid the recent carbon neutrality trend, the shipbuilding industry is also devoting significant efforts to developing nuclear-powered ship technology that equips vessels with SMRs instead of engines. Accordingly, at the ‘SMR Ship Enterprise Meeting’ held by the Ministry of Science and ICT in April, Korea’s three major shipbuilders, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries, attended and agreed to form a joint public-private promotion task force.

According to global market research firm Statista, as of February this year, the US had the largest number of SMR facilities operating, under construction, or planned worldwide with 45. This was followed by Russia (18), France and China (12 each), and Japan (10), while South Korea was tallied as having 6 in the planning stage.

HD Hyundai unveiled a nuclear-powered container ship model applying SMR technology in February last year. HD Hyundai is developing a 15,000 TEU-class container ship powered by a molten salt reactor (MSR) engine, aiming to complete development in 2030.

The industry is also paying attention to the possibility that HD Hyundai will expand its business scope beyond supplying land-based reactor equipment to the SMR-powered ship market in the future.

An industry official said, “HD Hyundai is expanding its nuclear-related business scope beyond supplying land-based reactor equipment to developing SMR-powered container ships,” adding, “Domestic shipbuilders are transforming from simple shipbuilders into total energy solution companies that design global energy infrastructure.”

Source:Business Korea