Hyundai Engineering, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), the Alberta Government of Canada, the University of Calgary, and CKBC announced on December 2 that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the Alberta Small Reactor (SMR) construction project in Canada.
Hyundai Engineering plans to build a 100MWe-class small reactor in Alberta, Canada, using the Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) technology from Korean and Canadian institutions.
SFR is a reactor that uses liquid sodium as a coolant. It uses high-purity, low-enriched uranium metal fuel to achieve higher power density compared to light water reactors.
Alberta, Canada, has been striving to develop technology that utilizes SMR to reduce CO2 generated from fossil fuel power plants, which account for most of the total power generation.
Through this agreement, Hyundai Engineering will perform the EPC service for the SFR construction project to be built in Alberta, Canada.
Organizations participating in the agreement, including Hyundai Engineering, plan to open a joint office in Canada with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute as soon as possible for technology, human resource exchange and business cooperation.
Once the company has established the SMR plant design and development plan, it plans to start the construction of a demonstration plant in Alberta, Canada, in earnest from next year.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Engineering is actively participating in the Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) business based on the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR).
U.S. energy company Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp (USNC) and Canada's Chalk River Nuclear Research Center are in the process of constructing a 5MWe-class MMR.
