South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced Wednesday that two affiliates of South Korea's SK Group, SK Inc. and SK Innovation Company, have signed a partnership agreement with TerraPower, a U.S. nuclear company backed by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates. Alongside the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company, they will collaborate on the development and commercialization of small modular reactors (SMRs). SK Inc. and SK Innovation Company jointly invested $250 million in TerraPower during a $750 million fundraising event co-led by Gates in August last year.

The partnership aims to commercialize TerraPower’s Natrium advanced reactor, a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) with a molten salt-based energy storage system that significantly enhances power output. This collaboration was announced during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to the U.S., which saw the unveiling of numerous new business collaborations and agreements in advanced energy fields.