The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has exported some of its sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) technology to TerraPower, the U.S. company that recently received the first commercial small modular reactor (SMR) construction approval in the United States.
According to KAERI on the 17th, the institute transferred technology and data related to the design and manufacturing know-how of its STELLA facility to TerraPower in August last year. KAERI President Joo Han-gyu introduced this in a Ministry of Science and ICT briefing in February, saying, "We are transferring the intellectual property rights related to sodium cooling system design and experimental results that TerraPower needs to obtain licensing."
TerraPower adopted KAERI's Generation IV nuclear test facility construction know-how and a portion of its experimental data to build its own flow experiment apparatus needed for SFR safety verification. An SFR is a reactor that uses liquid sodium instead of water as a coolant. It is regarded as a next-generation reactor with high thermal efficiency and superior safety. STELLA is a comprehensive evaluation facility built as a scaled-down version of the core safety systems of an SFR prototype reactor. It examines reactor accident scenarios and verifies safety, and KAERI has used it to accumulate detailed thermal-hydraulic flow data.
The world is currently accelerating SFR development. TerraPower is developing 'Natrium,' a next-generation reactor based on SFR technology, and received approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March to construct Natrium in Wyoming. In Korea, development was delayed as related budgets were significantly cut for 2025, but research is expected to regain momentum this year as the budget has been restored to around 7 billion won. KAERI plans to continue research on its Generation IV reactor 'SALUS,' currently under development, while pursuing technological advancement through public-private cooperation.
