The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved construction of a TerraPower SMR. SK Innovation said on Wednesday that TerraPower, a next-generation small modular reactor developer backed by SK Innovation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, received approval from the NRC to build a commercial advanced nuclear power plant.

It is the first time in 10 years that the NRC has approved construction of a new commercial nuclear power plant. It is also the first such approval in the United States for an advanced nuclear reactor such as an SMR. TerraPower will move ahead in earnest with construction of what it called the world’s first commercial SMR plant in Wyoming.

TerraPower plans to push ahead with development with the aim of starting up a demonstration reactor in 2030. The company stressed that the NRC’s construction approval means regulators have recognised the safety and technical completeness of TerraPower’s next-generation SMR technology, and it said the timetable for commercialisation and expansion of its global business is expected to accelerate.

TerraPower is a next-generation SMR company founded by Bill Gates in 2008. It uses liquid sodium cooling technology to boost power generation efficiency and safety compared with conventional nuclear plants. The liquid sodium coolant, which has a boiling point of 880 degrees Celsius, absorbs more heat to raise power output. It can also cut the amount of spent nuclear fuel to about 10 percent of the conventional level.

SK Corp and SK Innovation jointly invested $250 million in TerraPower in August 2022 to become its second-largest shareholders. They have continued cooperating on commercialising TerraPower’s SMR technology and pursuing global business expansion.

Earlier, SK Innovation, KHNP and TerraPower signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2023 to develop and commercialise a next-generation SMR. They have cooperated on demonstration and commercial reactor development for a fourth-generation SMR based on a sodium-cooled fast reactor that TerraPower is developing.

SK Innovation plans to combine its competitiveness in energy and materials with KHNP’s know-how in nuclear plant construction and operations to build an SMR ecosystem for various industrial sites, including data centres at home and abroad. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (최태원) also said in a welcoming address last month at the 'Trans-Pacific Dialogue 2026' hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Washington that "SK is preparing a new solution to build AI data centres and power plants together."

TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said, "Today is a historic day for the U.S. nuclear industry," adding, "TerraPower plans to start construction of a commercial SMR plant within this month."

Kim Moo-hwan, head of SK Innovation’s Energy Solution Division, said, "The first approval in the United States for construction of a fourth-generation SMR is a historic turning point for the global energy industry." He added, "Together with KHNP, SK Innovation plans to proceed with construction of the world’s first commercial SMR plant and expand the global SMR supply chain, based on strategic cooperation with TerraPower."