US-based energy company GE Vernova and Japan’s Hitachi have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore opportunities to deploy the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Southeast Asia.

The agreement was signed during the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial & Business Forum in Tokyo in the presence of US secretary of the interior Doug Burgum and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry minister Ryosei Akazawa.

The two companies have agreed to collaborate through the GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy joint ventures to identify commercial opportunities for their BWRX-300 technology in Southeast Asia.