Hyundai Engineering announced on January 11 that it has secured an exclusive right to the global engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business of the Micro-modular Reactor (MMR) by signing an equity investment contract with USNC, a U.S. company specializing in MMR with the 4th generation ultra-high temperature gas.
Small reactors, which are attracting attention as a game changer in the green energy field to achieve the carbon neutrality goal, have superior economic efficiency and safety compared to large nuclear power plants, and various types of MMR research are being conducted around the world.
Hyundai Engineering and USNC have been conducting conceptual design and basic design with high temperature gas with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, starting with technology development cooperation with high temperature gas in March 2012.
This year, the construction of an MMR demonstration plant at the Chalk River Nuclear Research Center site in the northeast of Toronto, eastern Canada, is started, and commercial operation is set to begin in 2025.
The Canadian Chalk River MMR, promoted by Hyundai Engineering-USNC-Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, is receiving great attention in the global nuclear power plant market as it is the most advanced in commercialization among 4th-generation reactors.
Hyundai Engineering performs EPC for the project, and USNC is in charge of nuclear fuel supply, reactor design, and manufacturing/supply. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is in charge of nuclear fuel layout design and safety analysis.
As the 4th generation ultra-high temperature gas developed by USNC, MMR is evaluated to have secured the highest level of safety among small module nuclear power plants.
The technology applied to the MMR reactor eliminates the possibility of leakage of radioactive material even at 1800 degrees Celsius. In addition, even if a serious accident like the Fukushima nuclear power plant occurs, the melting of nuclear fuel in the reactor is fundamentally excluded.
Equipped with ceramic-coated nuclear fuel, MMR can produce steam at a higher temperature (over 750 degrees Celsius) than conventional nuclear reactors. By using this, it is possible not only to produce electricity but also to mass-produce hydrogen using electrolysis.
Meanwhile, in Korea, Hyundai Engineering has been cooperating with Gyeongsangbuk-do, Uljin-gun, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Pohang University of Science and Technology, POSCO, and Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology last year to develop green hydrogen production technology using MMR.
Based on the Canadian MMR demonstration plant, it is planning to introduce a high-temperature gas furnace into Korea and build a 100MWe-class large-capacity electrolysis hydrogen production plant that uses MMR to secure economic feasibility.
