Hyundai Engineering targets global SMR market with US partnerships
A rendering shows the planned next-generation research reactor designed by Hyundai Engineering / Courtesy of Hyundai Engineering
Hyundai Engineering is stepping up its push into the global small modular reactor (SMR) market, signing agreements with two U.S. nuclear technology developers to pursue demonstration projects involving next-generation reactor designs.
The Korean engineering company said Tuesday it signed memorandums of understanding with Nano Nuclear Energy, known as NNE, and ARC Clean Technology to explore cooperation on fourth-generation SMRs, as demand for reliable, low-carbon electricity grows alongside artificial intelligence and data center expansion.
Under its agreement with NNE, Hyundai Engineering plans to support the KRONOS micro modular reactor project at the campus of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, aimed to provide heat for the campus and advance carbon neutrality goals.
The companies will explore cooperation on engineering, procurement and construction for auxiliary reactor facilities, modular design reviews, supply chain development and business planning.
NNE, headquartered in New York and listed on Nasdaq, is developing a high-temperature gas-cooled microreactor.
Hyundai Engineering signed a separate agreement with ARC on Tuesday to explore cooperation on the first deployment of ARC-100, a 100-megawatt electric sodium-cooled fast reactor.
ARC is pursuing a commercial demonstration plant at Idaho National Laboratory, with an initial capacity of about 200 megawatts and potential expansion to 600 megawatts, according to Hyundai Engineering.
The company said the partnerships build on more than four decades of nuclear engineering experience and 254 nuclear-related projects, including work on operating reactors, fuel facilities, research reactors and SMR technology.
Hyundai Engineering also said it has held about 31 percent of contract value in competitive nuclear design service bids commissioned by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power over the past six years.
Its overseas work includes upgrades to research reactor facilities at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and an initial design and consulting contract for a next-generation research reactor at the University of Missouri.
A Hyundai Engineering official said the agreements would help expand the company’s capabilities across the full project cycle, from design to engineering, procurement and construction, and strengthen its position as a global partner in the emerging SMR market.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.