HD Hyundai announced on March 12 that it signed a strategic agreement with TerraPower to expand the global manufacturing supply chain for Natrium reactors, supporting the rapid commercialization of the advanced nuclear technology.
Chung Ki-sun, Executive Vice Chairman of HD Hyundai, and Bill Gates, founder of TerraPower, participated in the meeting.
They discussed accelerating the development and commercialization of Natrium reactors.
The signing ceremony was attended by Chung Ki-sun, Won Kwang-sik, Head of Marine Energy Business Division at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Bill Gates founder and chairman of TerraPower, Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower; and other officials.
The Natrium reactor is a 4th generation sodium-cooled fast reactor developed by TerraPower, which produces electricity by cooling the heat generated from fast neutron fission with liquid sodium.
Among SMRs, it has high safety and technological maturity and generates 40% less nuclear waste compared to conventional reactors.
Bill Gates and other visionaries founded TerraPower with the mission of developing advanced nuclear energy solutions that provide safe, reliable, and carbon-free power.
The company is actively building the first Natrium plant in the western United States.
Through the agreement, the two companies will combine HD Hyundai’s world-class manufacturing expertise with TerraPower’s cutting-edge technology to establish the commercial-scale production capacity needed for global Natrium deployment.
In particular, HD Hyundai will develop optimized manufacturing processes to supply key Natrium reactor components.
In doing so, the company will establish the manufacturing foundation necessary for full-scale commercialization beyond the initial demonstration project.
Previously, in December 2024, HD Hyundai signed a supply contract with TerraPower for the cylindrical reactor vessel to be installed in the first Natrium reactor.
“We expect that HD Hyundai’s extensive experience and advanced technological capabilities in manufacturing will help build the foundation for commercialization of Natrium reactors,” said Won.
“Based on this cooperation, we will accelerate the commercialization of next-generation nuclear energy solutions and create new growth opportunities in the global SMR market.”
“TerraPower is working to rapidly deploy Natrium plants in the United States and around the world,” said Levesque.
“Through cooperation with HD Hyundai, we expect to expand the supply chain and successfully build Natrium reactors to meet growing energy demand.”
HD Hyundai Posts 67,765.6 Billion Won in Sales and 765.6 Billion Won in Operating Profit
HD Hyundai announced the group’s 2024 business performance.
In a public notice issued on Feb. 6, HD Hyundai said it logged 67,765.6 billion won in annual sales and 2,983.2 billion won in operating profit, according to its consolidated financial statement for 2024.
The figures represent a 10.5 percent year-on-year surge and a 46.8 percent year-on-year jump, respectively.
The good performance was owed to the shipbuilding and marine business, which saw a wide margin of improvement and continued the excellent performance of the power equipment business.
By business, the shipbuilding and marine business led the improvement of the group’s business performance by posting 25,538.6 billion won in sales, a 19.9 percent year-on-year jump on the back of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE)’s rising construction of ships through the expanded winning of value-added and eco-friendly ships and production efficiency.
The business saw its operating profit jump to 1,434.1 billion won, a 408 percent year-on-year surge, on the back of its strategies of prioritizing profitability to win orders.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, a subsidiary of KOSE, chalked up 14,486.5 billion won in sales and 705.2 billion won in operating profit.
Two other subsidiaries of the shipbuilding and marine business – HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo also reaped a good business performance.
HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries posted 7,003.1 billion won in sales and 723.6 billion won in operating profit and for HD Hyundai Mipo, the corresponding figures were 4.63 trillion won and 88.5 billion won.
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