Export-Import Bank of Korea discusses SMR financing with Bill Gates' TerraPower

The Export-Import Bank of Korea has held talks with TerraPower, the next-generation nuclear energy company founded by Bill Gates, on financial cooperation to commercialize small modular reactors and expand into overseas markets.

The bank said Saturday that President Hwang Ki-yeon met with TerraPower Chairman Bill Gates on Friday to discuss ways to expand the global SMR ecosystem and advance South Korea-US cooperation on next-generation nuclear power.

TerraPower is a US next-generation SMR company that Gates founded in 2008. The company is developing a reactor design called Natrium, which uses sodium as a coolant to enhance safety, and is currently building a demonstration plant in Wyoming.

The meeting took place amid growing attention to SMRs as a solution to power supply challenges driven by the spread of AI. Both sides agreed that combining TerraPower's technological capabilities with South Korean nuclear companies' manufacturing and construction expertise could generate synergies in global markets.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea plans to assemble a financial package — combining loans and guarantees — to support overseas nuclear projects jointly pursued by TerraPower and Korean companies.

As SMRs move toward mass deployment, the bank intends to broaden cooperation with global financial institutions, including the US Export-Import Bank, and will explore structures for providing joint financing with those institutions.

"The outstanding nuclear manufacturing and construction capabilities of Korean companies, combined with the Export-Import Bank of Korea's tailored financial support, are the key drivers that will accelerate TerraPower's SMR commercialization," Gates said. "I hope our cooperation will serve as a catalyst for the global clean energy transition and for entering third-country markets."

"Next-generation SMRs are a central pillar of both solving the power challenges of the AI era and the South Korea-US strategic nuclear partnership," Hwang said. "We will actively support Korean companies in securing a first-mover advantage in the global SMR market by combining the world-class Korean nuclear supply chain with the bank's financial support capabilities."

Meanwhile, the Export-Import Bank of Korea has been expanding its financing into decarbonization energy sectors, including nuclear power, this year. In April, it signed an MOU with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation with Vietnam's state-owned PetroVietnam to pursue financial support plans and financial modeling for Vietnam's new nuclear power plant project.