Seoul: HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun is set to meet with Bill Gates, the founder and chairman of TerraPower, a U.S. nuclear energy firm, in Seoul later this week to explore avenues for deepening their cooperation in the field of small modular reactors (SMRs), according to industry sources.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this marks their first meeting in seven months after they last convened on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The anticipated meeting underscores the ongoing collaboration between HD Hyundai, South Korea's prominent shipbuilding group, and TerraPower, a leader in advanced nuclear energy technology, within the SMR sector.

In 2022, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Co., the shipbuilding holding company of HD Hyundai, invested US$30 million in TerraPower. Since then, HD Hyundai has been actively involved in constructing reactor equipment for TerraPower's 345-megawatt Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor project in Wyoming, the United States.

In March 2025, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Chung and Gates to cooperate on the commercialization of the Natrium reactor, and they met again five months later to explore further expansion of their nuclear energy partnership. In May, both companies signed a Natrium Reactor Supply Framework Agreement, designating HD Hyundai Heavy Industries as a preferred manufacturer of components for the Natrium Reactor Enclosure System (RES).