Hyundai Engineering & Construction (000720.KS) has signed a framework agreement to carry out the Natrium next-generation reactor project of U.S.-based TerraPower, while also securing partner rights for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on up to eight additional units TerraPower is planning. The move accelerates the builder's push to gain an early foothold in the global energy supply chain.
Hyundai E&C said on the 18th that it signed the agreement with senior executives in attendance, including its CEO Lee Han-woo and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque. The two companies agreed to expand cooperation in the nuclear power sector and jointly identify new business opportunities, drawing on their respective technologies and expertise.
Earlier, on the 14th, senior executives from Hyundai E&C, TerraPower and HD Hyundai met in Seoul to discuss ways to cooperate on the commercial deployment and global expansion of the Natrium reactor. Attending alongside CEO Lee were TerraPower board chairman Bill Gates, CEO Chris Levesque and HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun.
The participants discussed how to speed up commercialization based on the success of the Natrium project, and exchanged views on the potential to expand additional projects in the future. In May, the three companies signed a memorandum of understanding on the next-generation nuclear power business, under an arrangement in which Hyundai E&C handles the EPC work and HD Hyundai manufactures the main equipment.
TerraPower is a U.S. nuclear company founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and it holds fourth-generation reactor technology based on a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) that uses liquid sodium as a coolant. It became the first company in the United States to receive construction approval for a fourth-generation reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and it broke ground on the 345-megawatt Kemmerer Unit 1 in Wyoming.
According to the company, Natrium produces less nuclear waste than conventional reactors and can cool naturally even when power is cut off. By combining a reactor with an energy storage system, it can adjust its output to match electricity demand. TerraPower has signed contracts with big tech companies such as Meta with an eye toward supplying power to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and it plans to expand into overseas markets in the future.
A Hyundai E&C official said, "This agreement combines TerraPower's innovative nuclear technology with Hyundai E&C's global EPC capabilities, so it will be an important milestone in responding to surging electricity demand and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation reactors." The official added, "Following the MOU signed in May, this meeting has made the strategic collaboration among the three companies even stronger," and said, "Based on our proven EPC capabilities and project management experience, we will continue to expand cooperation for the commercialization of the Natrium reactor and for the rollout of global power infrastructure spurred by AI data centers and other demand."
Hyundai E&C, drawing on its record of building 24 large reactors, is taking part in large reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs) and nuclear plant decommissioning projects in the United States.
