HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun meets with TerraPower founder and Chairman Bill Gates in August last year to discuss cooperation on small modular reactor projects. [HD Hyundai]
HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun meets with TerraPower founder and Chairman Bill Gates in August last year to discuss cooperation on small modular reactor projects. [HD Hyundai]

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun met with Bill Gates, founder and chairman of TerraPower, to discuss cooperation on small modular reactor projects in the United States.

HD Hyundai said Chung, Gates, TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque and Hyundai E&C CEO Lee Han-woo met Friday at an undisclosed location in Seoul.

At the meeting, Chung discussed a range of cooperation strategies aimed at commercializing land-based nuclear reactors.

"We expect to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation reactors on the basis of a cooperation framework spanning technology, manufacturing and engineering, procurement and construction," Chung said. "We will actively respond to growing demand for SMR power generation through our own technology development and collaboration with global companies."

The meeting was the first gathering of top executives from all three companies since they signed a trilateral MOU for cooperation on next-generation sodium reactor projects in May.

Under that agreement, HD Hyundai is responsible for manufacturing the main components for TerraPower's sodium-cooled fast reactor-based next-generation SMR, known as the Natrium reactor, while TerraPower provides the sodium technology and Hyundai E&C handles EPC.

HD Hyundai has been working to define the scope of supply chain cooperation and plans to accelerate investment in production facilities ahead of commercialization, with a target of supplying two to three reactor vessels per year.

The United States accounts for 25 percent of the global nuclear power market and is seeing rapidly growing demand for reactors, driven by the need to replace aging plants and a surge in data center construction.

HD Hyundai has been building its capabilities in the sector since it first invested in TerraPower in 2022. In December 2024, it secured an order from TerraPower to manufacture a cylindrical reactor vessel for the Natrium reactor.

In March 2025, the company signed a strategic agreement with TerraPower to expand the manufacturing supply chain for the Natrium reactor's commercialization and spent roughly a year conducting research on manufacturing feasibility, price competitiveness and delivery schedules.

Building on those results, HD Hyundai was designated as the preferred negotiating partner for the manufacture and supply of key components for TerraPower's Natrium reactor main equipment in May this year.


klee@heraldcorp.com