KHNP Aggressively Targeting 630 Trillion Won SMR Market

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) is aggressively driving the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) in collaboration with the private sector. With the goal of leading a market worth 630 trillion won (US$497.24 billion), Korea aims to establish a presence in it.

According to KHNP on July 19, Korea has been developing innovative SMRs (i-SMRs) since 2019, with KHNP taking the lead. SMRs are compact reactors with an output of 300 MWe or less, capable of the integrated production of major components and modular construction.

SMRs offer high safety levels with passive safety systems and integrated designs that prevent accidents such as large-scale pipe breakage. Moreover, they do not require a large amount of cooling water, making site selection less challenging. SMRs can be utilized for various industrial applications, using both electricity and high-temperature steam.

Currently, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Russia, China, and Japan are actively competing in the global SMR commercialization race alongside with Korea. Among them, a high-temperature gas-cooled SMR, which can produce the highest heat, provide high-efficiency hydrogen production, and become part of high-temperature industrial processes such as steelmaking, is expected to be the first to be commercialized by the early to mid-2030s.

Light-water reactor SMRs being developed by countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and China are expected to accelerate their licensing processes and achieve commercialization around the 2030s, leveraging existing technologies and supply chains. A sodium-cooled fast reactor SMR, which can utilize fast neutron fuel breeding and reuse used nuclear fuel reprocessing, is projected to be commercialized after the mid-2030s. Meanwhile, a molten salt reactor SMR, offering inherent safety features and achieving 50% thermal efficiency, is estimated to be commercialized around the 2040s, following material development and validation periods.

Korea is developing a light-water SMR based on “SMART” technology, a small integrated reactor that acquired the world’s first SMR standard design certification in 2012. An “Innovative SMR Technology Development Team,” which was officially launched on July 10, is leading SMR development, and the government plans to invest 3.992 trillion won (US$315.07 million) into it over the next six years. The team aims to complete the basic design by the end of this year and obtain standard design certification by 2028. The concept is to enhance economic and safety performance by applying technologies such as modular design, fully passive safety systems, non-boron operation, and integral control rod drive mechanisms to SMART’s core technology.

Other SMR-related technologies, such as the sodium-cooled fast reactor and the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, are also under development. The sodium-cooled fast reactor development team, established in 2012, completed the specific design of a 150 Mwe-scale prototype PGSFR in 2017 and started research and development of a 100 MWe-scale SALUS for power generation purposes from 2020.

Research on the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor started in 2001 for heat supply purposes and reactor-related technologies for hydrogen production were begun to be developed starting from 2020. Molten salt reactor technology development is being led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, involving joint participation from academia and industry to develop floating nuclear power plant technologies since 2021.

The nuclear power industry is actively participating in overseas projects to enhance its technological capabilities. Companies like Samsung C&T and GS Energy are investing in the development of light-water SMR projects in the United States. Hyundai Engineering is involved in the design and construction of light-water SMRs, which are expected to be exported to the U.K. and Ukraine.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is participating in the production and design of the main high-temperature gas-cooled SMR equipment in the U.S. Hyundai Engineering has also reportedly signed a detailed design contract for a high-temperature gas-cooled SMR project in Canada. SK Innovation and Hyundai Heavy Industries are investing U$280 million in the construction of a sodium-cooled fast reactor SMR project in the U.S. and participating in the business.