SEOUL, June 19 (AJP) - HD Hyundai said Thursday it has strengthened its partnership with TerraPower, joining a $650 million funding round led by the U.S. nuclear firm.
The fresh capital infusion will help finance construction of the first commercial Natrium reactor in the United States and support broader international deployment of TerraPower’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology, according to the company.
Founded in 2006 by Bill Gates, TerraPower is developing the Natrium system, a next-generation SMR that combines a sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The dual-technology design allows for both stable baseload electricity and adaptable output to meet shifting power demand.
Thursday’s announcement marks a deepening of HD Hyundai’s strategic investment in TerraPower. The South Korean firm first entered the partnership in 2022, when its shipbuilding unit, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, invested $30 million in the nuclear start-up.
In December 2024, HD Hyundai signed a reactor vessel supply contract for the inaugural Natrium plant. That was followed by a formal agreement in March 2025 to co-develop the manufacturing infrastructure necessary to scale future deployments.
As interest in SMRs accelerates, driven by both climate imperatives and energy security concerns, TerraPower aims to position itself as a leading provider of scalable, cost-effective nuclear solutions.
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