Advanced nuclear energy and technology company Nano Nuclear Energy announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai Engineering to establish a framework for potential collaboration to advance the Kronos MMR (micro-modular reactor) energy system project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and to evaluate broader cooperation on future manufacturing and deployment.
New York-based Nano said the MOU brings together its advanced reactor development programme with South Korea-based Hyundai Engineering capabilities including engineering, procurement, construction and project-management.
The two companies initially intend to focus on areas including project-execution planning, conventional and site-related work, procurement readiness, supply-chain development and US localisation planning for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign project.
Nano said the collaboration is designed to give it a structured pathway to bring experienced project-execution capability into the Kronos MMR project at an increasingly important stage of development.
The companies might later expand Hyundai Engineering’s role to include architecture and engineering, engineering and procurement, engineering, procurement and construction, construction management, equipment or component fabrication, and support for future Kronos MMR reactor fleet deployment.
Nano Nuclear is developing the Kronos MMR, a 15-MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to support modular and phased deployment.
The design uses helium coolant and tristructural isotropic (Triso) fuel particles embedded in a ceramic matrix. Heat would be transferred to a molten-salt thermal energy storage system.
It has already submitted a construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Kronos MMR.
The Kronos MMR at the university will serve a dual purpose as a zero-carbon energy source for the campus and a facility for education and commercial research.
