Samsung Heavy forms int'l consortium to make nuclear plants at sea

South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Denmark's Seaborg Technologies on Friday announced their launch of a consortium to develop and commercialize floating nuclear power plants using compact molten salt reactors (CMSR).

SHI will develop floating bodies for nuclear reactors based on its engineering, procurement and construction technology and Seaborg, which possesses core development technology for such reactors, will supply CMSRs and nuclear fuel to be installed at the plants.

KHNP will lead development of operations and maintenance of such plants and support the project as a whole.

A type of small modular reactor, a CMSR is considered a next-generation energy source because of its ability to produce electricity with high efficiency through nuclear fission but without emitting CO2.

The three companies set as their first goal the commercial application of a nuclear power plant with a 200-megawatt capacity using a CMSR.

On Thursday, SHI President and CEO Jung Jin-taek, KHNP President Hwang Ju-ho and Seabord Technologies CEO and Executive Chairman Navid Samandari attended the ceremony for the consortium's agreement at KHNP's Radiation Institutes of Health in Seoul.

"A floating nuclear power plant is a carbon-free energy solution that can efficiently respond to climate change challenges and a next-generation technology expandable to floating hydrogen and ammonia plants," Jung said.

"Through cooperation in next-generation nuclear power plant projects, the Republic of Korea and Denmark will take the lead in a mutually developing partnership for a safer and cleaner future," Hwang added.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com