NuScale in talks to build SMR plant in S.Korea: NuScale CEO

NuScale Power Corp., the world’s leading small modular reactor (SMR) developer, may land in South Korea sooner than its rivals with its unrivaled SMR technology, a move that would mark the first project of the Korea-US SMR alliance in the Asian country.  

The US SMR leader is actively reviewing a plan to build an SMR plant with its proprietary technology, John L. Hopkins, president and chief executive officer of NuScale Power, said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Economic Daily on April 27.

GS Energy Corp., an energy unit of GS Group that is NuScale Power's Korean SMR operation partner, is in talks with a local government in Korea's North Gyeongsang Province to build an SMR plant in partnership with NuScale Power.

The two parties are known to be negotiating whether NuScale Power and GS Energy would build a nuclear power plant fitted with six SMR modules from NuScale Power on a 165,000-square-meter land to generate 462 megawatts (MW) of energy, enough to power 900,000 four-person households.

Once they agree on an SMR plant construction plan in Korea, Doosan Enerbility Co., Korea’s major power plant engineering company, is expected to build SMRs with NuScale Power’s technology, while Samsung C&T Corp., a construction and engineering company of Samsung Group, would lead the construction of the plant.

GS Energy, also an equity holder of NuScale Power, will likely be in charge of the operation of the SMR plant.

NuScale Power is looking forward to building its SMR plant in Korea as soon as possible, said NuScale Power CEO. 

Hopkins expected Korea will play a leading role in SMR market expansion, and NuScale Power is keen to cooperate with Korean partners to foster the growth of the SMR market.

The global SMR market is forecast to grow to 630 trillion won ($469.8 billion) in 2035 from 14 trillion won in 2027, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

FIRST KOREA-US SMR ALLIANCE PROJECT IN KOREA

The successful launch of NuScale Power's SMR plant in Korea hinges on the Korean government's approval, said industry experts.

NuScale Power expects to commence the construction of an SMR plant in Korea in 2028, considering that it is projected to take about five years to get approval for its construction from the Korean government.

If the Korean government okays the construction plan, this would mark the first SMR construction project in Korea since Asia’s fourth-largest economy has forged an SMR alliance with the world’s largest economy.

During a state visit to the US by Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last week, Korean companies signed a slew of MOUs with American SMR companies to expand SMR reactors in Korea.

SK Inc., its energy and battery affiliate SK Innovation Co. and Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Co. signed an agreement with TerraPower LLC., an American SMR developer founded by Bill Gates, to cooperate on the development of next-generation nuclear power technologies.

Doosan Enerbility and the Export-Import Bank of Korea also agreed with NuScale Power to expand their global SMR business.

The Yoon administration has been actively promoting the development of SMRs to foster Korea’s nuclear reactor industry after the government decided to rescind the previous government’s policy of phasing out nuclear energy.

But Korea is far behind other countries in SMR technology, which is considered a next-generation energy source due to its lower investment costs and fewer carbon emissions to produce clean energy and a safer energy option than large-scale nuclear power plants.

In the US, not only NuScale Power but also TerraPower, X-Energy, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Holtec International are actively developing SMRs. In Canada, the UK, France, Russia and China, state-run SMR companies are leading SMR R&D. 

NUSCALE SMR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The Oregon-based SMR company is the world’s leading SMR technology company. It developed the US' first SMR, and NuScale Power Module became the first and only SMR to receive design approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2020.

The NuScale Power Module is built based on pressurized water-cooled reactor technology and can supply power for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, commercial hydrogen production and other process heat applications, according to NuScale Power.  

It has received $1.4 billion from the US government to build an SMR plant and related facilities in Idaho while planning to operate an SMR plant in Romania in 2029.

Once NuScale Power brings its SMR technology to Korea, it will share its SMR design and other related technologies with Korean universities to facilitate their partnership on the shared research and development of SMRs, said Hopkins.

The company has been actively working with 17 universities in the US to share its SMR technology to further bolster the related technology and industry since it was spun off as an independent corporation from Oregon State University.

NuScale Power was founded by Oregon State University Professor Emeritus Jose Reyes, who is now NuScale Power's chief technology officer, during his time at OSU.

NuScale Power believes its Korean partners will play a key role in SMR development in Korea because they are the ones that will lead the construction of SMRs and the operation of SMR plants, using the SMR technology to be provided by NuScale Power, said the US SMR company CEO.

Doosan Enerbility is an equity holder of NuScale Power since it invested $140 million in the US company. NuScale Power has also forged partnerships with Samsung C&T and GS Energy, which also invested $70 million and $40 million, respectively, in the American partner. 

Hopkins hopes that its American and global rivals such as TerraPower further advance their SMR technologies to contribute to expanding the global SMR market through competition.

But NuScale Power is "the first mover,” said Hopkins.

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

Sookyung Seo edited this article.