SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung C&T Corp., a South Korean construction firm, said Tuesday it has forged a comprehensive partnership with NuScale Power, a U.S. nuclear technology company, in a move to tap deeper into the small modular reactor (SMR) business.
The construction unit of Samsung Group has injected an additional US$50 million in NuScale Power following its $20 million investment last year to further strengthen collaboration for the global market expansion.
SMRs are a type of lower-maintenance nuclear fission reactor that is smaller than conventional reactors.
Samsung C&T CEO Oh Se-chul hailed the reinforced partnership with the leading SMR player, saying it will serve as a foothold for the expansion into the global SMR market.
John Hopkins, president and CEO of NuScale, said the announcement is a key example of smart collaboration among nuclear industry leaders and innovators.
Samsung C&T plans to actively engage with SMR projects as a key construction partner in Eastern Europe, including a project jointly pursued by the Romanian government and NuScale.
NuScale Power, which holds original SMR technologies, boasts a passive cooling system-based SMR capable of generating a total 924MW electricity from up to 12 reactor modules of 77MW-capacity each.
NuScale Power’s SMR is currently under development with some funding by the U.S. Department of Energy, along with investment from companies.
(Yonhap)