HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), a sub-holdings company of HD Hyundai, wants to develop small modular nuclear reactors for use on newbuild ships together with TerraPower and Core Power. The plans were unveiled at a joint research and technology exchange meeting.
The reactor, which will be jointly developed by KSOE and other partners including TerraPower and Core Power, centres around TerraPower’s molten chloride fast reactor (MCFR) design.
HD Hyundai invested USD 30 million in TerraPower in November 2022 and has been looking at nuclear power for ships for a number of years.
Also read: Hyundai jumps on board development of nuclear power for ships
R&D team to TerraPower
KSOE plans to send an R&D team to TerraPower in March to continue cooperation with all the joint research companies from various fields including marine nuclear power plants and new nuclear applications. In addition, KSOE plans to join the establishment of a system for the application of marine reactors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and classification societies ABS and Lloyd’s Register.
Commenting on the HD Hyundai news, Mikal Bøe, the founder of Core Power, says the narrative around new nuclear for maritime is strengthening: ‘Adding their world-class expertise in shipbuilding and process engineering and Core Power’s 60+ shareholders from the maritime and energy industries illustrates how a broader understanding that there is no net-zero without nuclear, is now being established.’
Also read: Next step for maritime molten salt reactor development
