Scaled-down nuclear reactor developer NuScale said Tuesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s industrial giant Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. (DHIC) to form a strategic alliance to support development of the U.S. company’s small nuclear reactor.
Earlier this month, NuScale announced a similar agreement with Romanian energy Company Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica. The goal of that agreement is to “evaluate the development, licensing and construction of a NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) for a potential long-term [energy supply] solution in Romania.”
The agreement with DHIC represents a tie-in with parent company Doosan Group and with “potential Korean financial investors, which, commensurate to final due diligence, plan to make a case equity investment in NuScale,” the company said.
The agreement with Doosan is a symbolic victory given the government’s recent anti-nuclear power stance. South Korea has 24 operational nuclear power plants and has been a technology exporter for years. Currently, there are four Korean-designed nuclear reactors under construction in the United Arab Emirate. However, the country’s president Moon Jae-in has proposed phasing out nuclear power over the next 45 years.
NuScale said it would take advantage of DHIC’s expertise in pressure vessel manufacturing. DHIC “will join the larger U.S.-led manufacturing team to build Nuscale’s groundbreaking NuScale Power Module, America’s first small modular reactor,” the company said.
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