Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates met with HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Kisun in Seoul on Friday to advance plans for a global supply chain to support TerraPower’s Natrium nuclear reactors. The meeting comes five months after the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding in the United States.
HD Hyundai will provide reactor vessels for TerraPower’s first Natrium plant, a key component of the design. The Natrium system, a small modular reactor cooled with liquid sodium, is promoted as safer and more efficient than conventional reactors. TerraPower claims it can generate about 40% less nuclear waste, though those figures remain untested at commercial scale.
Executives pitched the collaboration as pivotal. “This will mark a turning point in building a global nuclear supply chain and advancing the energy paradigm shift,” Chung said. TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque described Hyundai as “a key supply chain partner with deep manufacturing expertise.”
Yet despite the optimism, advanced nuclear projects face major hurdles. The Natrium reactor has not yet cleared full regulatory approval, and nuclear construction worldwide has often been plagued by delays and ballooning costs. Public opposition to nuclear power — particularly concerns over waste storage and accident risks — could also slow adoption.
Gates, who founded TerraPower in 2008, has long argued that new nuclear designs are essential for tackling climate change. But critics counter that renewable technologies such as wind, solar, and battery storage are advancing more quickly and at lower cost.
HD Hyundai, best known for shipbuilding, is also pursuing nuclear-powered vessels in partnership with TerraPower, including research into molten salt reactor technologies for marine use. Those efforts, however, remain speculative and face even greater regulatory and environmental scrutiny.
The Seoul meeting underscores the high-level push to commercialize small modular reactors, but whether the technology can move from prototype to profitable business remains an open question.
