KRONOS MMR Partnership
Hyundai Engineering has signed a memorandum of understanding with NANO Nuclear Energy to support advancement of the KRONOS MMR Energy System project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The KRONOS MMR is a 45 MWt, 15 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor using 
TRISO fuel in prismatic graphite blocks with a sealed transportable core. NANO Nuclear submitted a Construction Permit Application on 31 March 2025 and signed a strategic collaboration agreement with the university in April 2025 to site the first research unit on campus.
Under the MoU, the two companies initially plan to concentrate on project-execution planning, procurement readiness, constructability, modularisation, logistics, supply-chain development, and localisation planning for the United States. The agreement explicitly preserves interfaces with the university, existing expected contractors, and applicable public-procurement requirements.
Subject to technical and commercial evaluation and separate definitive agreements, the scope could later expand to include architecture and engineering, full EPC delivery, construction management, equipment fabrication, and support for broader KRONOS MMR fleet deployment. The parties may also assess balance-of-plant and infrastructure opportunities across industrial heat, hydrogen, desalination, and maritime applications.
ARC-100 Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor
Hyundai Engineering has separately concluded an MoU with ARC Clean Technology, developer of the 100 MWe ARC-100 sodium-cooled fast reactor. The ARC-100 uses a metallic uranium alloy core and is designed for both grid electricity and industrial heat. Its lineage traces to the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which operated at Argonne National Laboratory from 1961 until 1994.
In August 2025, ARC signed a multi-year framework agreement with Battelle Energy Alliance — the management and operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory — targeting first-of-a-kind deployment of an ARC-100 at that site. The framework spans engineering and design, advanced materials and manufacturing, high-performance computing, irradiation testing, commissioning, and site development across the full project lifecycle. The initial commercial demonstration plant is planned at approximately 200 MWe, with ARC considering a future expansion to around 600 MWe.
Hyundai Engineering stated that the ARC MoU is expected to broaden its business scope into fourth-generation reactor technology, encompassing both high-temperature gas reactors and sodium-cooled fast reactors.
Supply-Chain and EPC Context
Since establishing its Nuclear Power Division in 1985, Hyundai Engineering reports completing 254 nuclear projects, including 145 designs for operating plants, 32 research reactors, 31 nuclear fuel manufacturing and storage facilities, and six SMR technology development projects. The company characterised the two new agreements as a platform for building first-of-a-kind project experience and developing qualified supplier networks in the United States market.
Both MoUs reflect a broader objective of combining Korean and US industrial capabilities to support localisation, supplier qualification, project financing, and repeatable fleet execution as advanced reactor designs progress through regulatory review toward construction.
