Hyundai Engineering signs MOUs with US nuclear firms to enter global SMR market

Hyundai Engineering announced Tuesday that it has signed separate MOUs with US next-generation nuclear developers Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) and ARC Clean Technology (ARC) to pursue participation in small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration projects.

The move comes as nuclear power is drawing renewed attention as a stable, low-carbon electricity source amid surging power demand driven by the spread of AI and data centers, with SMRs gaining traction as a next-generation alternative. SMRs are reactors with a smaller capacity and modular design compared with conventional nuclear plants.

Hyundai Engineering first held a signing ceremony for the Hyundai Engineering-NNE MMR first-of-a-kind project cooperation MOU on Friday at its headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Hyundai Engineering CEO Joo Woo-jung and NNE CEO James Walker, along with other senior officials from both companies, attended and discussed plans to strengthen their strategic partnership and cooperate on demonstration projects.

NNE, headquartered in New York and listed on NASDAQ, is a next-generation nuclear developer working on a micro modular reactor (MMR) based on high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology. Under the agreement, the two companies will cooperate on the KRONOS MMR first-of-a-kind project, which aims to supply heat and achieve carbon neutrality at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Hyundai Engineering plans to take a broad role in the project, covering EPC work for reactor auxiliary facilities, modular design review, supply chain development and project development.

Later the same day, Hyundai Engineering signed a second MOU with ARC at the same location to cooperate on a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR)-based SMR first-of-a-kind project.

ARC is developing the ARC-100, a 100-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor, and has formed a strategic partnership with Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the operator of the US Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to build a commercial demonstration plant of about 200 MW at the INL site. ARC is also considering expanding the project to around 600 MW, and the two companies plan to pursue EPC cooperation as well as identify new business opportunities as the project progresses.

The MOUs are expected to give Hyundai Engineering a foothold in the next-generation nuclear market by expanding its business into fourth-generation reactor technologies, including high-temperature gas-cooled and sodium-cooled fast reactors.

"Our accumulated expertise in nuclear design and experience executing large-scale plant projects has laid the foundation for cooperation with global SMR companies," a Hyundai Engineering official said. "We will use this participation in demonstration projects as an opportunity to further strengthen our full-cycle project capabilities from design to EPC, and grow into a trusted core partner in the global SMR market."