Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Invests $30 Million in US SMR Company TerraPower Technology

Bill Gates Signs $30 Million Investment Deal with SMR Company
Following Investment, Next-Generation Nuclear Business Cooperation Also Under Review
Continuously Exploring Safe Technologies and New Ventures in Marine Nuclear Sector

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering is investing $30 million (approximately 42.5 billion KRW) in TerraPower, a small modular reactor (SMR) company founded by Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the intermediate holding company for shipbuilding under HD Hyundai, announced on the 4th that it recently signed an investment agreement with TerraPower.

Through this agreement, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering plans to actively invest in next-generation energy technologies. TerraPower, established in 2008, is an innovative company possessing next-generation reactor design technology using sodium (sodium-cooled method).

The technologies owned by TerraPower, such as sodium-cooled fast reactors and molten salt reactors, not only emit no greenhouse gases during power generation but also have lower risks of accidents like leaks or explosions compared to large nuclear power plants, making them recognized as eco-friendly future energy sources. A sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) is a reactor that uses sodium as a coolant and utilizes nuclear fission by fast neutrons, while a molten salt reactor (MSR) uses molten chlorides as both coolant and fuel.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has been in investment discussions with TerraPower since early this year, and the two companies plan to explore business cooperation in related fields going forward.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering intends to leverage the nuclear capabilities held by Hyundai Heavy Industries to seek new business opportunities and, in the long term, to secure future technologies in offshore nuclear power generation and nuclear-powered ships. Hyundai Heavy Industries has developed key core equipment for the Korean fusion research device (KSTAR) and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), enhancing its technological capabilities in next-generation energy sources.

A representative from Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering stated, "SMRs are emerging as a market with great growth potential amid the global decarbonization trend," adding, "We will not only continue developing nuclear technology but also strive to lead the next-generation energy market."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has been actively developing various next-generation energy technologies, including hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol, as well as nuclear power, announcing the 'Hydrogen Dream 2030 Roadmap' last year.

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