Hyundai, KAERI team up for export of SMART SMR

Monday, 11 December 2023

The agreement was signed by Hyundai Engineering CEO Hong Hyun-seong and KAERI President Joo Han-gyu at KAERI's headquarters in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon.

Under the MoU, Hyundai Engineering will be responsible for business development, financing and EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) for SMART verification and commercialisation, while KAERI will be responsible for support tasks such as reactor design and licensing.

Korea's SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) is a 330 MWt pressurised water reactor with integral steam generators and advanced safety features. The unit is designed for electricity generation (up to 100 MWe) as well as thermal applications, such as seawater desalination, with a 60-year design life and three-year refuelling cycle.

While the basic design is complete, development has been stalled by the absence of any orders for an initial reference unit. Developed by KAERI, SMART received standard design approval from the Korean regulator in mid-2012. KAERI had planned to build a demonstration plant to operate from 2017.

In April this year, KAERI signed an MoU with the Government of Alberta to collaborate on the deployment of SMR technology - including the Korean-designed SMART reactor - in the Canadian province.

In September, KAERI and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited agreed on an innovative nuclear R&D partnership, signing an MoU. This MOU affirmed both institutions' commitment to collaborate in the area of civilian nuclear science and technology and KAERI said it also marked "the first step for Korea's SMR technologies into the global SMR markets".

"In the future, KAERI and Hyundai Engineering will strengthen the local business base in Canada so that SMART demonstration and construction projects can accelerate," KAERI said.

"This business agreement will be a starting point for domestic companies to proactively develop businesses with SMART technology," Joo said. "In the future, our companies will continue to expand into overseas markets with Korea's unique SMR technology. We will spare no effort in providing support so that we can actively advance into the market."

"Through this business agreement, preparations for SMART's full-scale overseas exports will be completed, further accelerating overseas business development," a Hyundai Engineering official said. "Starting with Canada, which is implementing energy conversion to SMR, in the future we will expand to Uzbekistan and the United States. We are also considering expanding into markets such as India."