From L to R, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. President and CEO Whang Joo-ho, TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque, and SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun pose for a photo after signing the partnership agreement on small modular reactors, at the Madison Hotel in Washington, on April 24, 2023, in this photo provided by SK Innovation.
SEOUL, April 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Two affiliates of South Korea’s SK Group have signed a partnership agreement with a U.S. nuclear company, backed by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates, to collaborate on the commercialization of an advanced reactor, an SK unit said Wednesday.
SK Inc., SK Innovation Co. and the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. signed the agreement with TerraPower, a Washington state-based developer of small-sized nuclear power reactors, known as small modular reactors, SK Innovation said in a release.
The two SK units jointly invested US$250 million in TerraPower in the $750 million fundraising co-led by Gates in August last year.
SK said the companies will work to commercialize TerraPower’s Natrium advanced reactor, a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can significantly boost the power output.
The technology enables its nuclear power plant to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources and allow more cost-effective decarbonization of electricity generation.
The SFR is regarded as a net-zero energy source that could replace coal-fired power plants.
The partnership came as President Yoon Suk Yeol is paying a state visit to the United States this week, during which dozens of new business collaborations and preliminary agreements on advanced energy fields were announced.
(Yonhap)
