MOU signed at UNIST on Tuesday

12 institutions to jointly develop, test and demonstrate marine small modular reactor technology

Center aims to link shipbuilding and nuclear expertise into a single collaboration hub

Representatives of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and 11 partner institutions sign an MOU to launch the Marine SMR Technology Demonstration Center at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday. [HD Hyundai]
Representatives of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and 11 partner institutions sign an MOU to launch the Marine SMR Technology Demonstration Center at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday. [HD Hyundai]

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is joining forces with domestic shipbuilding and nuclear industry players and academic institutions to demonstrate and commercialize marine small modular reactor technology.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and 11 other organizations signed an MOU Tuesday at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) to launch the Marine SMR Technology Demonstration Center, the company announced Wednesday.

The agreement brings together 12 institutions — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C), Korean Register (KR), Hyundai Heavy Industries Turbomachinery, Clad Korea, Ulsan Technopark, UNIST, Seoul National University, KAIST and Hanyang University — to develop, verify and demonstrate the technologies needed to make marine SMRs commercially viable.

The center will pool the participating institutions' technologies, specialists and research facilities to jointly advance marine SMR development, testing and demonstration. The partners plan to share test equipment and research infrastructure to reduce redundant investment and improve the efficiency of technology verification. They will also combine industry demand with university research capabilities to co-develop core technologies for marine SMR applications, and will jointly identify and plan large-scale national projects and government research and development programs.

"The Marine SMR Technology Demonstration Center will serve as a collaboration hub that effectively links the technologies and research infrastructure of Korea's shipbuilding and nuclear sectors," said Won Gwang-sik, executive vice president and head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Marine Energy Business Division. "We will work with our partners to build, step by step, the foundation for demonstrating and commercializing marine nuclear technology."


keg@heraldcorp.com