TerraPower and HD Hyundai expand Natrium reactor supply chain for fleet deployment
TerraPower locked in HD Hyundai as preferred manufacturer for Natrium reactor enclosure components, pushing the sodium fast reactor toward serial production.
TerraPower said it signed two agreements with HD Hyundai and Hyundai Engineering & Construction on May 20 in New York City, locking in a preferred manufacturer for key Natrium reactor enclosure system components as the company pushes beyond a first-of-a-kind plant. The move is a supply-chain milestone, not a construction start, but it sharpens the industrial path for a reactor line TerraPower wants to repeat.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was selected as the preferred manufacturer for Natrium Reactor Enclosure System components after a year-long joint study that examined manufacturing feasibility, cost competitiveness and delivery schedules. That work shifted the conversation from whether the hardware could be built to who could build it at scale, and on what timetable, if Natrium moves into serial production.
TerraPower also signed a strategic agreement with HD Hyundai and HDEC to use the Korean companies’ project-delivery and execution experience in support of its commercialization plan. The companies had already announced a strategic collaboration on March 11, 2025, aimed at scaling the global manufacturing supply chain for Natrium reactor components. The 2026 agreements extend that effort and were framed around Nth-of-a-kind deployment, not just the first unit.
That matters because Natrium is designed as a sodium-cooled fast reactor paired with integrated energy storage. TerraPower describes the plant as a 345 MWe unit that can boost output to about 500 MWe for roughly 5.5 hours, a configuration that has kept utility and grid-flexibility watchers focused on the project. The reactor’s appeal depends not only on the physics package, but on whether the industrial chain can deliver large fabricated components, enclosure systems and project execution on a repeatable basis.
HD Hyundai’s role is especially significant because the company said its fabrication capabilities and industrial production experience made it the preferred manufacturer for the RES components. For TerraPower, the New York signing showed that commercialization now runs through manufacturing partners as much as reactor design. The question is no longer only whether Natrium can be built once, but whether the supply chain can support a fleet.
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