Korea Investment & Securities Co. said on the 26th that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is moving beyond the limits of being in cyclical industries in each of its business divisions, expanding its investment appeal as a conglomerate. It kept its buy rating and raised the target price to 1.17 million won from 970,000 won. The previous trading day's closing price for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was 680,000 won.
According to Korea Investment & Securities Co., HD Hyundai Heavy Industries on Oct. 28, 2024, obtained N-type qualifications from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to manufacture and install nuclear power plant equipment (BPVC Section III).
This means HD Hyundai Heavy Industries can manufacture reactor pressure vessels and related equipment, and in Dec. 2024, two months after obtaining ASME certification, it won an order from TerraPower for a cylindrical reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for a demonstration sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR).
The RPV being manufactured by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is slated to be supplied to "Kemmerer Unit 1" in Wyoming, and the project received construction permit approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Mar. 9 under the 10 CFR Part 50 (licensing and operation regulations for nuclear facilities) track.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is a manufacturer of key equipment for small modular reactors (SMRs). If SMR key equipment manufacturing is regarded as encompassing the reactor containment system through the RPV, it is a business that wins turnkey orders for most of the key equipment within the nuclear island (NI), the core process of a nuclear power plant.
Researcher Kang said, "If it wins orders from TerraPower for the commercial project for which it currently holds preferred bidder status, it is expected to swiftly secure facility investments to establish mass production and even supply lines for precision forgings and castings."
He added, "It is significant in that the company is moving beyond offshore plants, which cannot be ordered on a regular cycle, to enter the core key-equipment market in the energy infrastructure sector at the beginning of its growth."