Microsoft co-founder and Gates Foundation Chairman Bill Gates is reportedly planning a visit to South Korea as early as next month for talks with Prime Minister Han Sung-sook. With artificial intelligence and next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) cooperation emerging as key agenda items, the visit is expected to accelerate the expansion of South Korean companies’ participation in TerraPower, the nuclear energy company founded by Gates.<\/p>\n
According to information and communications technology industry and government sources on the 29th, Gates’ team recently requested a meeting with Prime Minister Han, and both sides are currently coordinating schedules and agenda items. Multiple sources suggested Gates’ visit could take place on the 14th of next month, though a Microsoft Korea representative said the company “cannot confirm specific details.” A meeting with President Lee Jae-myung was initially discussed but was adjusted to a prime ministerial meeting due to scheduling conflicts.<\/p>\n
If the visit proceeds, it would mark Gates’ return to South Korea after approximately one year since his last trip in August of last year. During that visit, he met with President Lee Jae-myung and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan, emphasizing that “SMRs can be an effective solution to the increasing power demands of the AI and semiconductor industries.” He subsequently held meetings with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, HD Hyundai Senior Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun, and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong to review supply chain expansion and commercialization plans for the Natrium reactor.<\/p>\n
Gates’ visit is drawing particular attention as it coincides with the materialization of TerraPower’s business plans. Founded by Gates in 2008, where he currently serves as board chairman, TerraPower is developing the “Natrium” fourth-generation reactor based on sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) technology that uses liquid sodium as a coolant. The reactor is considered a next-generation SMR technology that combines a molten salt-based energy storage system, enabling output regulation and significantly enhanced safety.<\/p>\n
In March, TerraPower received construction approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the “Kemmerer Unit 1” in Wyoming and commenced main reactor construction in April. This marks the first instance of a commercial-scale advanced nuclear power plant receiving construction approval in the United States. South Korean companies’ participation has become increasingly visible throughout this process. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was selected in May as the preferred bidder for supplying core equipment for the reactor enclosure system (RES), a primary component of the Natrium reactor, while Doosan Enerbility was chosen to manufacture and supply key components including the core barrel and guard vessel. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power also strengthened its partnership by acquiring $40 million (approximately 58 billion won) worth of TerraPower shares held by SK Innovation in January. SK Group has been a major shareholder in TerraPower since investing $250 million in 2022.<\/p>\n
During his visit, Gates is expected to advance SMR business cooperation with South Korean companies including SK Group and HD Hyundai. SK Group, as a major TerraPower shareholder, is reportedly coordinating the specific agenda and participant lineup. An industry source commented, “Expanding the role of South Korean companies in the TerraPower project into equipment supply and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) is expected to be a key topic of discussion.”<\/p>\n
Gates’ planned visit also aligns with the South Korean government’s accelerated push to foster SMR development. With global data center power consumption projected to more than double from 415 TWh in 2024 to 945 TWh by 2030 amid the AI boom, South Korea is pursuing a “mega project” to build AI data centers totaling 18.4 GW by 2035. In response, the government announced its “Next-Generation SMR Development Promotion Strategy” on the 23rd, launching a pan-governmental support system linking development, demonstration, licensing, and commercialization. A special SMR law supporting technology development and commercialization will also take effect in September.<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon stated at a press briefing marking his first anniversary in office on the 20th, “Power is critically important for operating AI data centers,” adding, “We are seriously considering how to accelerate our existing SMR procurement plans.” Against this policy backdrop, Gates’ visit is expected to further solidify the U.S.-South Korea SMR alliance.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has recently faced challenges following Warren Buffett’s decision to suspend donations. Buffett has decided to temporarily halt his contributions to the Gates Foundation, ending a 20-year giving streak. Major U.S. media outlets have interpreted Gates’ association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein prior to Epstein’s death as the background for the donation suspension. Buffett is reportedly awaiting the results of an ongoing investigation into the relationship between the Gates Foundation and Epstein.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Microsoft co-founder and Gates Foundation Chairman Bill Gates is reportedly planning a visit to South Korea as early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[156],"tags":[651,50816,78163,77973,9208,78165,2333,49965,78164,2336],"class_list":["post-171010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bill-gates","tag-bill-gates","tag-chey-tae-won","tag-han-sung-sook","tag-hd-hyundai","tag-lee-jae-yong","tag-microsoft-ms","tag-natrium-reactor","tag-sk-group","tag-small-modular-reactor-smr","tag-terrapower"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117005329686391081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}