Samsung C&T has been selected as a strategic partner for Sweden's new 1.2-gigawatt (GW) Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project.
Samsung C&T said on the 3rd that in Stockholm, Sweden, it signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (hereafter GVH) for a new nuclear power plant project led by Sweden's leading nuclear power corporations Studsvik (Studsvik AB).
The event was attended by Studsvik Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carl Teden, GVH CEO Jason Cooper, and Samsung C&T President and CEO Oh Se-chul, along with other key executives from each company.
Studsvik, which is leading the project, is a nuclear technology specialist corporations established in 1947 as the central institution of Sweden's national nuclear program. It has the technology and business capabilities that span the entire nuclear industry lifecycle, from new nuclear development to existing plant services and operational support to decommissioning, and it is currently carrying out projects in about 20 countries worldwide.
The project will build four units of the 300 MW-class SMR "BWRX-300," developed by GVH based on existing boiling water reactor (BWR) technology, for a total capacity of 1.2 GW. A boiling water reactor boils water in the reactor to produce steam, which turns a turbine to generate electricity.
The project site is an area within Studsvik's land that has been licensed to operate nuclear facilities, and the project aims to begin commercial operation in the mid-2030s.
The BWRX-300 is a model currently under construction as the first commercial SMR in the Western world at Darlington in Ontario, Canada, and it has also accelerated commercialization after completing its operating license application in April.
Samsung C&T and GVH were finally selected as strategic partners for this project after a competitive process among three groups that began in May last year, and the two companies have thus taken the first step toward the full-fledged promotion of the Swedish SMR project.
Accordingly, Studsvik will oversee licensing, environmental impact assessment, and government consultations, while Samsung C&T and GVH will participate as joint engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners, agreeing to collaborate across the entire project from the initial phase through execution.