The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has signed a $2.26m technology export contract with Danish nuclear engineering company Saltfoss Energy (formerly Seaborg Technologies). Under this agreement, KAERI will provide core nuclear fuel manufacturing and material corrosion evaluations for Saltfoss’s seaMSR-100 floating fluoride-based molten salt reactor design. In May 2024, KAERI and Seaborg signed a memorandum of understanding to advance nuclear technology.
The collaboration aims to transform Saltfoss’s next-generation marine reactor concept into an industrially viable, licensed reality by leveraging South Korea’s national nuclear research infrastructure. KAERI will perform the chemical “pre-treatment” required to condition fluoride molten salt into a high-grade state suitable for nuclear fuel. It will then fabricate and characterise the liquid nuclear fuel. KAERI will build and operate a specialised natural-circulation molten-salt test loop. This will simulate extreme reactor flow conditions to evaluate how candidate structural materials withstand high-temperature, highly corrosive molten fluoride salt.
The contract is highly significant for KAERI, as it allows the institute to expand and apply its extensive high-temperature expertise – originally developed through domestic chloride-based MSR designs (such as the MARINA reactor) – to Saltfoss’s fluoride-based technology.
The seaMSR-100 is a compact, Generation-IV molten salt reactor designed to deliver 100 MWe or 250 MWt. The fuel is dissolved directly into the liquid salt mixture, operating at low pressure and eliminating the risk of standard fuel rod meltdowns. It is designed to run for 24 years without refuelling. Multiple units can be integrated onto modular floating barges built in shipyards, creating turnkey floating power plants capable of delivering clean energy to coastal cities and heavy industries.
This agreement marks a major milestone for Saltfoss’s industrial ecosystem in South Korea, where the company is already collaborating with Samsung Heavy Industries for platform manufacturing and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) for future plant operations. Together with KAERI’s fuel and materials expertise, and decades of experience handling high-temperature molten salts, this work strengthens Saltfoss’s supply chain and technical foundation as the company moves toward regulatory certification and deployment of its floating power plants.
“Korea continues to be a cornerstone of our strategy, and this agreement with KAERI is a natural next step in that relationship,” said Klaus Nyengaard, CEO of Saltfoss. “KAERI’s depth of experience with molten-salt fuel and materials is exactly the kind of proven, real-world expertise we want alongside our own team as we move the seaMSR-100 toward certification. It’s a strong signal of confidence in our technology from one of the world’s leading nuclear research institutes.”
KAERI said the technology export contract with Saltfoss does not involve the transfer of ownership of existing molten salt reactor (MSR) source technologies or intellectual property held by the research institute, but is a method of providing research and development services by utilising the technology and research infrastructure held by the institute.
“This contract is a significant achievement in which Korea’s original MSR technology, secured through national R&D, has been recognised for its technical value by a foreign private company,” said KAERI Acting Director Im In-cheol. “We will further expand the development of core technologies and international cooperation so that our technology can secure competitiveness in the next-generation MSR market, which will be utilised at sea and on land, and enter the global market.”
The licensing and commercialisation timeline for Saltfoss Energy’s seaMSR-100 reactor has transitioned onto an accelerated regulatory track in South Korea, targeting full deployment by the first half of the 2030s. Historically, South Korea lacked a dedicated licensing pathway for non-light-water advanced reactors, forcing Saltfoss to push its initial commercial target back from its early projections. However, a significant legal shift has cleared the bottleneck.
In April, South Korea passed a vital amendment to its Nuclear Safety Act, establishing a brand-new “pre-liminary review system” designed specifically for small modular reactors (SMRs). The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) confirmed that Saltfoss and US-based TerraPower are first in line to enter this accelerated framework. This mechanism allows regulators to review and approve safety parameters and design architectures at an early stage, dramatically reducing regulatory uncertainty before the formal licensing phase begins.
The South Korean government is rewriting its legal architecture to accommodate Generation 4 reactors due to massive surge demands in electricity from artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing. NSSC is integrating its process with the international Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) initiative to streamline maritime nuclear safety approvals.
