KAERI与现代建设、KEPCO E&C启动250MW钠冷快堆Helios设计

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has begun designing "Helios," a 250-megawatt next-generation reactor that expands the existing sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) "Salus-100," together with Hyundai Engineering & Construction and KEPCO Engineering & Construction. The plan goes beyond simply supplementing the existing design, aiming instead to newly design a large-scale power-generation SFR targeting artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and industrial complexes.
"Going forward, large-scale carbon-free electricity demand will grow, centered on AI data centers and industrial complexes," Lee Je-hwan, head of KAERI's Generation IV Reactor Technology Development Division, said in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily on the 24th, announcing the plan.
KAERI launched a public-private joint project last July with Hyundai E&C, KEPCO E&C, and others to design an SFR-based small modular reactor (SMR). Initially, KAERI had planned the project to continue the design of the 100-MW-electrical-output Salus-100. However, in the course of surveying the market and demand from last year through early this year, it decided to design a new SFR with the reactor's electrical output expanded to 250 MW. As the market environment and international situation had changed, it judged that a 250-MW reactor offered greater business viability than a 100-MW one. After finalizing the reactor requirements, the research team began full-scale design in April this year, and in the process named the new reactor "Helios." A total of 58 billion won will be invested in the project. It follows a one-to-one matching structure, with the government contributing 29 billion won and the private sector, including Hyundai E&C and KEPCO E&C, contributing 29 billion won.
Salus-100 was designed as an SMR with 100 MW of electrical output and 267 MW of thermal output. Its distinguishing feature is a long-cycle core that can operate for up to 20 years without replacing the nuclear fuel, allowing stable, long-term power production without frequent refueling. Building on the design experience of Salus-100, Helios aims to develop a power-generation reactor that responds to large-scale carbon-free electricity demand from AI data centers and industrial complexes. While high-temperature gas reactors have strengths in hydrogen production and industrial process heat supply alongside power generation, and molten salt reactors have strengths in power generation and ship propulsion, Helios focuses on stable, large-scale power supply. Raising the output to 250 MW increases the scale of key equipment such as the reactor and turbine, securing economic viability while allowing more flexible deployment near demand sites than large light-water reactors.
Competition to develop and commercialize SFRs has been accelerating overseas as well. Russia is commercially operating the BN-600 and BN-800, and China is building the 600-MW CFR-600. In the United States, TerraPower is pushing to build the 345-MW SFR "Natrium" in Wyoming, moving quickly toward commercialization. "The SFR is one of the next-generation reactors being commercialized most rapidly in the United States," Lee said.
As the SFR market expands, related equipment markets—including pumps, heat exchangers, piping, measuring instruments, and test facilities, in addition to reactors—are expected to grow together. In Korea, reactors using sodium as a coolant are being developed jointly by Hyundai E&C and KAERI, while POSCO is participating in reactors using helium gas. For molten salt reactors being developed for shipboard installation, the three major shipbuilders are pursuing the project.