Korean firms' US nuclear deals: Hyundai inks FANCO, Elementl eyes $750M
From the Energy digest for Nov 6, 2026
Sources American Nuclear Society
What happened: Hyundai E&C signed a five-year master service agreement with Indiana-based First American Nuclear (FANCO), covering constructability reviews, design and engineering advisory, and construction feedback for FANCO's EAGL-1, a 240-MWe lead-bismuth-cooled fast reactor — with Hyundai aiming to raise its likelihood of winning the construction phase. Hyundai Engineering, the E&C subsidiary, signed an MoU with ARC Clean Technology to support deployment of the company's first ARC-100, a 100-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor, at Idaho National Laboratory, and a second MoU with Nano Nuclear setting a framework for potential collaboration on the Kronos MMR project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as well as broader manufacturing and deployment work. American Nuclear Society reports the run of small US–Korean nuclear deals continuing alongside the larger $120 billion Korean-investment framework. Separately, Elementl Power signed a preliminary agreement to form and fund a development partnership of up to $750 million, backed by a consortium led by South Korean investment firm DS Investment Partners, with Samsung C&T named a potential strategic investor. The partnership would support up to three Elementl nuclear projects toward final investment decision and preconstruction, including Elementl's planned 1.5-GW Ohio site, which is set to deploy GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300.
What's genuinely new: The FANCO master service agreement and the Elementl–DS Investment Partners $750 million partnership are new in this reporting, and the ARC and Nano Nuclear MoU items add named scope — the INL deployment, the Part 53 licensing support, and the Kronos MMR project at UIUC — beyond the October 28 intent-stage announcement.
Watch: MoUs and the preliminary agreement hardening into named contracts and projects; Elementl's final investment decisions and the Ohio site; Samsung C&T confirming an investment role; Hyundai winning construction work on the EAGL-1.
Links: American Nuclear Society · Nov 6, 8:18 AM ET
More context: Hyundai Engineering & Construction has signed a five-year master service agreement with Indiana-based First American Nuclear covering constructability reviews, design and engineering advice and construction feedback for the company's 240-MWe lead-bismuth-cooled EAGL-1 fast reactor, a role Hyundai says raises the likelihood it takes part in the construction phase (American Nuclear Society). Hyundai's engineering subsidiary signed separate memoranda with ARC Clean Technology — to support a first ARC-100 sodium-cooled reactor at Idaho National Laboratory and completion of its design for NRC Part 53 licensing — and with Nano Nuclear for the Kronos microreactor project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (American Nuclear Society). Elementl Power signed a preliminary agreement to form and fund a development partnership of up to $750 million, backed by a consortium led by South Korea's DS Investment Partners with Samsung C&T named as a potential strategic investor, to carry up to three of its nuclear projects toward final investment decisions, including a planned 1.5-GW Ohio site using GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300 (American Nuclear Society).