Lee Han-woo (left), CEO of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, poses for a photo with Bill Gates, chairman of TerraPower's board of directors, following their meeting. [Hyundai E&C]
Lee Han-woo (left), CEO of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, poses for a photo with Bill Gates, chairman of TerraPower's board of directors, following their meeting. [Hyundai E&C]

Hyundai Engineering & Construction is accelerating its push to lead the next-generation nuclear power plant market by deepening its strategic cooperation with TerraPower.

Hyundai E&C said Tuesday that senior executives from TerraPower and HD Hyundai gathered in Seoul on Friday to discuss ways to commercially deploy and globally expand the next-generation Natrium reactor.

The meeting brought together Lee Han-woo, CEO of Hyundai E&C; Bill Gates, chairman of TerraPower's board of directors; Chris Levesque, TerraPower's CEO; and Chung Ki-sun, chairman of HD Hyundai.

The executives agreed that TerraPower's Natrium project would serve as a critical milestone in demonstrating the competitiveness of the next-generation nuclear industry, and discussed ways to accelerate commercialization on the back of the project's success.

TerraPower is currently building the first Natrium nuclear power plant in Wyoming. The executives exchanged views on the potential to expand additional projects and agreed to maintain close cooperation going forward.

TerraPower, founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, leads the next-generation nuclear market with its Natrium reactor — a sodium-cooled fast reactor that dramatically improves on conventional designs in both safety and economics.

The company has also secured a partnership combining Hyundai E&C's engineering, procurement and construction capabilities with HD Hyundai's major-component manufacturing capacity, and is pressing ahead with efforts to expand its presence in the global energy market.

"Following the MOU signed among Hyundai E&C, TerraPower and HD Hyundai on next-generation nuclear power projects last May, this meeting has further solidified the three companies' strategic cooperation," a Hyundai E&C official said. "We will continue to expand collaboration — drawing on our proven EPC capabilities and project management experience — to advance the commercialization of Natrium reactors and support the spread of global power infrastructure driven by demand from AI data centers and beyond."

Meanwhile, Hyundai E&C plans to pursue orders for high-margin projects and strategic products that can help it navigate external uncertainties, including geopolitical risks, in the second half of this year. The company also intends to actively identify new future growth businesses under H-Road, its long-term growth strategy aimed at realizing a forward-looking vision and setting new standards for the construction industry.


lucky@heraldcorp.com