Korean consortium exports nuclear reactor tech to US for 1st time

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) President Joo Han-gyu, fourth from right, and the University of Missouri Chair of the Board of Curators Todd Graves, fourth from left, hold signed contracts at the university, Thursday (local time), formalizing a consortium in which KAERI will provide a design study package for the Next Generation Missouri University Research Reactor. Officials from KAERI, the University of Missouri, Hyundai Engineering and MPR were present at the signing ceremony. Courtesy of KAERI

A consortium comprising a Korean research agency, a private company and a U.S. firm signed a contract with the University of Missouri on Thursday to export a design for the university’s next-generation research nuclear reactor, the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT said. This marks the first time Korea has exported nuclear power technology to the United States since it began learning about the technology from the U.S. in 1959.

The consortium, consisting of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Hyundai Engineering and American nuclear technology solution provider MPR, has agreed to provide a design study package for the Next Generation Missouri University Research Reactor. The design package is the reactor project’s first phase.

The contract signing follows the consortium’s selection as the preferred bidder last July in a competitive tender issued by the University of Missouri. The university is planning to build a research reactor with a thermal capacity of 20 megawatts.

The ministry said the deal marks Korea’s first export of nuclear technology to the United States, 66 years since 1959 when the U.S. built Korea's first nuclear research reactor, the TRIGA Mark-II.

The ministry said Korea’s past exports in the industry and KAERI’s globally exclusive nuclear fuel technology for research reactors played a pivotal role in securing the deal.

The ministry and KAERI, following the completion of Korea’s first domestically designed research reactor in 1995, built a digital control system for research reactors in Malaysia in 2014 and Bangladesh in 2024, designed and constructed a research reactor in Jordan in 2017 and established cold neutron facilities for a Dutch research reactor in Delft in 2024. In 2022, they also began construction of Korea’s latest research reactor for export, with a thermal capacity of 15 megawatts.

The ministry said Hyundai Engineering’s rich experience with nuclear power projects and Korea’s cooperation with MPR also contributed to landing the contract. Minister Yoo Sang-im said the signing has “written a new page in Korea’s nuclear power history” and “proven Korea’s global-top nuclear power technology.”

KAERI President Joo Han-gyu said the consortium’s contract signing is a “result of KAERI’s long-pursued research and capability, including the world-exclusive research reactor nuclear fuel technology and the consortium companies’ overseas business networks.”

The Korean government sees the world's research reactors as a blue ocean market, as the growing number of aging facilities will lead to rising demand for new ones. The ministry said that among 227 currently active reactors in 54 countries, more than 70 percent are at least 40 years old. About 50 new reactors will be needed globally in the next 20 years, it added.

The ministry said it will further advance technologies in the industry in collaboration with private firms.