New agreements and strong bilateral relationships advance long-term collaborations for future commercial-scale Natrium plants

BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company, today announced two key agreements, one with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and one with SK Innovation, to develop and commercialize the Natrium technology across the United States, Korea and select international markets, during a visit to Korea by TerraPower leadership.

TerraPower founder and Chairman Bill Gates, along with TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque met with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and leaders from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, HD Hyundai, HDEC and SK Innovation during a packed day in Seoul.

Following the day of meetings in Seoul, TerraPower announced a framework agreement with HDEC to support the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors. Under the agreement, TerraPower selected HDEC as its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build up to eight of its future Natrium reactors with completion, price and performance guarantees, intended to facilitate conventional commercial financing of the Natrium reactor fleet. The collaboration will accelerate the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors by streamlining costs, improving design and construction efficiencies and strengthening global supply chains to deploy a fleet of Natrium plants across the United States and in select international markets.

Separately, TerraPower and SK Innovation announced a term sheet agreement to advance their intent to develop Korea's first commercial Natrium plant along with plans to expand internationally. The two companies plan to explore opportunities to collaborate on engineering and digital innovation solutions, including digital twin technology and artificial intelligence, building on TerraPower's existing leadership in these tools to optimize operations and maintenance.

"Today marks a pivotal moment for TerraPower as we embark on a new chapter of international collaboration with Korea's leading organizations," said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower. "Combining TerraPower's innovative advanced nuclear technology with Korea's nuclear construction and operational expertise will strengthen our global cooperation and accelerate the deployment of a Natrium fleet that will transform the world's energy landscape."

TerraPower will now begin work under these agreements to accelerate the deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies in the United States, Korea and around the world, reinforcing a pathway for reliable, scalable and economically competitive advanced nuclear power.

About the Natrium Technology

The Natrium technology is the first mover in the advanced reactor sector and is well positioned to support rapidly increasing energy demand. The Natrium plant design features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed as it is designed to keep base output steady, ensuring constant reliability, and can quickly ramp up when demand peaks—it is the only advanced reactor design with this unique feature.

The first Natrium plant is being developed through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public-private partnership. That project is expected to be completed in 2030 and will be the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States. TerraPower is rapidly commercializing the Natrium technology, which includes an agreement with Meta for up to eight Natrium plants by 2035.

About TerraPower

TerraPower is a leading nuclear innovation company that strives to improve the world through nuclear energy and science. Since it was founded by Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries, TerraPower has emerged as an incubator and developer of ideas and technologies that offer energy independence, environmental sustainability, medical advancement and other cutting-edge opportunities. It accepts and tackles some of the world's most difficult challenges. Behind each of its innovations and programs, TerraPower actively works to bring together the strengths and experiences of the world's public and private sectors to answer pressing global needs. Learn more at terrapower.com.

Press contact

TerraPower – press@terrapower.com

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SOURCE TerraPower