# HD Hyundai and SK Back Bill Gates' TerraPower in a Push into Small Reactors > Two of Korea's largest industrial groups have invested in TerraPower, the nuclear venture Bill Gates chairs, betting that small modular reactors will become a major business as AI data centers drive demand for round-the-clock power. - Source: Korea First - Canonical URL: https://koreafirst.tv/article/hd-hyundai-and-sk-back-bill-gates-terrapower-in-a-push-into-small-reactors - Author: Korea First Staff - Section: Money - Published: 2026-08-14T12:47:46.655Z - Updated: 2026-08-14T12:47:46.655Z - Tags: HD Hyundai, SK Group, TerraPower, Bill Gates, SMR, nuclear - Korean edition: https://koreafirst.tv/ko/article/hd-hyundai-and-sk-back-bill-gates-terrapower-in-a-push-into-small-reactors --- Two of Korea's largest industrial groups are throwing their weight behind Bill Gates' nuclear venture, betting that small reactors will become a major business as artificial intelligence drives demand for round-the-clock power. HD Hyundai and SK Group have joined TerraPower, the American company Gates chairs, to help build and commercialize its next-generation reactors. The Korean companies moved separately but in the same direction. HD Hyundai signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with TerraPower and its construction arm, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, in May, while SK Innovation signed what it called a term sheet for global joint business promotion with the American firm. Both made financial investments whose size was not disclosed. ## The reactor at the center The object of all this interest is the Natrium reactor, a fourth-generation, sodium-cooled small modular reactor that TerraPower is building in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Each module is designed to produce 345 megawatts, and can be pushed to 500 megawatts when demand peaks. The project has cleared a crucial hurdle. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved construction in March, and TerraPower is aiming for commercial operation in 2031, on a site that will become the world's first commercial conversion of a coal plant to nuclear power. ## What the Korean firms bring HD Hyundai is offering scale in manufacturing. The group has committed to supplying two to three reactor vessels a year, to accelerate investment in production facilities, and to take part across technology, manufacturing and the engineering, procurement and construction work that turns a design into a plant. The Korean supply chain runs deeper still. Doosan Enerbility has secured a deal to manufacture components for the Natrium reactor, including the guard vessel and internal and support structures, extending the country's role from investor to parts maker. ## A day of meetings in Seoul The partnership was cemented in person on Friday, when HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Hyundai E&C chief Lee Han-woo sat down with Gates and TerraPower chief executive Chris Levesque. Gates also met Korea's prime minister, Han Seong-sook, the trade minister, Kim Jung-kwan, and the National Assembly speaker, Cho Jeong-sik, a sign of how seriously Seoul is taking the venture. Chung framed the deal as a shortcut to market. Based on a cooperative framework across technology, manufacturing and engineering, procurement and construction, he said, the company expected to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation reactors, and would respond to growing demand for small reactor power through its own development and partnerships abroad. ## Why now The timing tracks a surge of interest in small reactors, with more than 100 designs in development worldwide, driven above all by the appetite of AI data centers for steady electricity. The United States alone accounts for roughly 95 gigawatts of nuclear capacity, about a quarter of the global total, and the boom has put a premium on anyone who can build reactors quickly. That is where Korea is pitching itself. Trade Minister Kim said Korean companies had proven execution capacity and that the country had built a foundry-grade nuclear manufacturing and construction ecosystem over 50 years. The claim is that Korea can be to reactors what its chipmakers are to semiconductors, the reliable builder others come to, and the TerraPower deal is a chance to prove it. --- Originally published by Korea First. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://koreafirst.tv/article/hd-hyundai-and-sk-back-bill-gates-terrapower-in-a-push-into-small-reactors.