Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Centrus Energy Corp (Centrus), a U.S. nuclear fuel and service provider, on February 26 (local time) in Washington, D.C., to provide stable nuclear fuel supply.
The LOI builds on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in April last year and contains specific business objectives to establish a system for cooperation in uranium resource security and nuclear business between KHNP and Centrus.
The LOI enables KHNP to diversify the suppliers of enriched uranium used as fuel for nuclear power plants to increase fuel supply security. At the same time, it is expected to contribute to strengthening Korea-US nuclear cooperation by establishing a strategic partnership with Centrus, which is rebuilding uranium enrichment capacity in the United States.
Centrus is the only company licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), which is used as fuel for next-generation nuclear power plants and SMRs. In particular, Centrus successfully produced 20 kgU of HALEU at its Piketon, Ohio, facility in November last year, demonstrating to the U.S. Department of Energy its technology and production capabilities.
This opens up the possibility for KHNP to preemptively develop fuel for not only existing commercial nuclear power plants but also future nuclear power plants.
"Through the signing of this LOI, we will begin specific discussions on the supply of stable nuclear fuel, and we will continue to explore areas of business cooperation through the expansion of the nuclear fuel supply chain cooperation project," said Hwang Joo-ho, President of KHNP.
