On September 4, 2026, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) signed an agreement with Danish nuclear energy company Saltfoss Energy for cooperation in Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) fuel fabrication and material corrosion assessment.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Min-Hoon Baik, Senior Vice President of KAERI’s Back-end Nuclear Technology Laboratory, and Mr. Peder Norborg, Chief Operating Officer of Saltfoss Energy, in the presence of KAERI Acting President Dr. In-cheol Lim  and Mr. Shineyoung Kang, President of Saltfoss Korea.

Under the agreement, worth approximately USD 2.26 million (KRW 3 billion), KAERI will work with Saltfoss Energy over the next two years to support the development of its fluoride-based MSR. The cooperation will cover fluoride molten salt pretreatment, fuel fabrication and characterization, construction and operation of a natural-circulation molten salt test loop, and corrosion assessment of candidate structural materials.

KAERI has accumulated extensive expertise and research infrastructure in high-temperature molten salt technologies through its long-standing R&D on pyroprocessing. Building on this foundation, KAERI is also developing MARINA, an advanced chloride-based molten salt reactor for maritime applications, in collaboration with domestic industry, academia, and research institutions.

The agreement is particularly meaningful as KAERI will expand and apply its expertise in chloride-based MSR technologies to Saltfoss Energy’s fluoride-based MSR development. It also provides an opportunity to broaden international cooperation in MSR fuel, materials, and related testing and evaluation technologies.

Acting President Dr. In-cheol Lim stated, “This agreement is a meaningful achievement demonstrating that Korea’s MSR technologies developed through national R&D have gained recognition from an international private-sector partner. KAERI will continue to advance core technologies and expand international cooperation to strengthen the global competitiveness of our MSR technologies for future maritime and land-based applications.”