Seoul: TerraPower LLC, a U.S. nuclear power company founded by Bill Gates with investment from South Korea's SK Group, has secured a construction permit for its small modular reactor (SMR) from U.S. authorities, as announced by the South Korean conglomerate.
According to Yonhap News Agency, SK Group has been maintaining close ties with TerraPower. In 2022, SK Inc., the conglomerate's holding company, and SK Innovation Co. made a joint investment of US$250 million in the U.S. firm. TerraPower announced that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a construction permit for its planned plant in Wyoming, anticipated to be operational by 2030.
SK Group highlighted that this is the first instance in a decade where the NRC has granted approval for the construction of a new commercial nuclear plant, marking a significant milestone. Additionally, it is the first-ever permit for an SMR. In January, SK Innovation disclosed it had sold some of its stake in TerraPower to South Korea's state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Co., yet SK Group remains the second-largest shareholder in the U.S. firm.
The NRC's approval is viewed by SK Group as a testament to the technological capabilities of TerraPower in the SMR industry, which is expected to bolster SK and KHNP's global business expansion. SK Innovation plans to leverage its energy sector expertise alongside KHNP's experience in constructing and operating nuclear reactors to develop a SMR ecosystem for various industrial applications both domestically and internationally.