TerraPower Accelerates Natrium Nuclear Reactor Deployment

TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company, announced two key agreements, one with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and one with SK Innovation, to develop and commercialize the Natrium technology across the United States, Korea, and select international markets, during a visit to Korea by TerraPower leadership.

TerraPower founder and chair, Bill Gates, along with Chris Levesque, TerraPower president and chief executive officer, met with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and leaders from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, HD Hyundai, HDEC, and SK Innovation during a packed day in Seoul.

Following the day of meetings in Seoul, TerraPower announced a framework agreement with HDEC to support the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors. Under the agreement, TerraPower selected HDEC as its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor to build up to eight of its future Natrium reactors, with completion, price, and performance guarantees, intended to facilitate conventional commercial financing of the Natrium reactor fleet. The collaboration will accelerate the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors by streamlining costs, improving design and construction efficiencies, and strengthening global supply chains to deploy a fleet of Natrium plants across the United States and in select international markets.

Separately, TerraPower and SK Innovation announced a term sheet agreement to advance their intent to develop Korea’s first commercial Natrium plant along with plans to expand internationally. The two companies plan to explore opportunities to collaborate on engineering and digital innovation solutions, including digital twin technology and artificial intelligence, building on TerraPower’s existing leadership in these tools to optimize operations and maintenance.

“Today marks a pivotal moment for TerraPower as we embark on a new chapter of international collaboration with Korea’s leading organizations,” said Chris Levesque, president and chief executive officer of TerraPower. “Combining TerraPower’s innovative advanced Nuclear technology with Korea’s nuclear construction and operational expertise will strengthen our global cooperation and accelerate the deployment of a Natrium fleet that will transform the world’s energy landscape.”

TerraPower will now begin work under these agreements to accelerate the deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies in the United States, Korea and around the world, reinforcing a pathway for reliable, scalable and economically competitive advanced nuclear power.

Natrium technology is a first mover in the advanced reactor sector and is well positioned to support rising energy demand. The Natrium plant design features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MW when needed, keeping base output steady for reliability and quickly ramping up when demand peaks. It is the only advanced reactor design with this unique feature.

The first Natrium plant, Kemmerer Unit 1, is being developed through the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public-private partnership. That project is expected to be completed in 2030 and will be the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States. The NRC issued the construction permit for KU1 in March, and the company began construction in April. TerraPower is rapidly commercializing Natrium technology, including an agreement with Meta Platforms for up to eight Natrium plants in the United States by 2035.