Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on August 18 that it has been selected as a partner for the next-generation nuclear power plant construction program of US nuclear company TerraPower. The company said it also secured EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) partnership rights for up to eight additional follow-on reactors that TerraPower plans to pursue.
Hyundai E&C reportedly signed a basic cooperation agreement to carry out TerraPower’s flagship Natrium reactor program, with CEO Lee Han-woo and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque attending the signing. TerraPower, a next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) company founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is said to hold fourth-generation nuclear technology based on a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), which uses liquid sodium rather than water as a coolant. Liquid sodium has a higher boiling point than water, allowing operation at low pressure even at high temperatures.
- Agreement signing date: August 18, 2026
- Scope of EPC partnership rights secured: up to 8 follow-on Natrium reactor units
- TerraPower’s existing project under construction: Kemmerer Unit 1, Wyoming, USA — 345 MW
- TerraPower’s NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) construction approval: first in the US for a Generation IV reactor