On Wednesday, the University of Missouri unveiled the contract design plans for NextGen Missouri University Research Reactor — the second nuclear plant to be built in Columbia.
During a news conference, MU announced it has reached a $10 million agreement with a consortium that includes Hyundai Engineering America, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Hyundai Engineering Co. and MPR Associates for the initial design and licensing of the new reactor over the next six months.
Myoung-Kun Son is the president and COO of Hyundai Engineering’s Plant Division and said the company was encouraged to expand its experience through this project.
The total project is expected to cost more than $1 billion. MU President Mun Choi said about $200 million of that has been secured.
University leaders are touting it to be “by far the largest capital project in the university's 186-year history.”
Choi said NextGen MURR will be “bigger, faster and stronger” than the existing MU Research Reactor and will allow the university to expand into researching tools for melanoma, breast cancer and glioblastoma treatments.
Following the licensing process, the next contract phase is expected to last 24 months and includes completing the design and application for a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The new nuclear reactor will be built at Discovery Ridge, the research park off of the U.S. 63’s Discovery Parkway exit. Matt Sanford, the executive director of MURR, said the site has been reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and received a construction permit, “which is a great sign about the general usability of that site for nuclear activities.”
Choi said he is in conversation with city and county leaders to ensure the utilities and infrastructure at the location are adequate.
After completing the review phase and the permit is received, construction will begin and is scheduled to take four to six years with commissioning.
Impact beyond Missouri
Currently, MURR is the largest university research reactor on a university campus in the U.S. and has been in Columbia since 1966.
It is the only producer of four medical isotopes used in cancer treatments. They're used to treat thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer and liver cancer.
The radioisotopes that are used in these cancer treatments cannot be stored for long because they decay over time and lose their effectiveness. MURR produces the isotopes every week, and it is the only reactor in the world that operates 24 hours a day and six and a half days a week.
Last calendar year, nearly 500,000 people received doses of a cancer-fighting medicine that contained the active ingredient produced at MURR.
The initial funds for MURR were approved by Missouri Gov. James Blair in 1959, which Choi noted was just years after the Korean War.
“A war that the South Koreans would have lost without the strong support of President Harry Truman, Missourians and Americans, and I am here today because of that support,” Choi said.
Referencing his Korean heritage and his family’s experience in the war, Choi reflected on the pride he felt in MU’s new partnership with Korean companies and researchers.
“For me to see a Korean flag fly in Jesse Hall … it's just a tremendous feeling of gratitude,” he said.
From concept to reality
NextGen MURR Project Director Michael Hoehn II expressed his excitement for this next milestone, and said it’s going to be the first of many to be realized.
“When you have an initiative of this length — the largest capital project anticipated in the history of the system — there's going to be very critical milestones along the way,” Hoehn said.
Hoehn said there are several critical milestones across the project from start to finish.
“(This process involves) everything from submission of all licensing documents to the regulator, receiving regulatory approval to construct and build the reactor, to the groundbreaking at the prospective site all the way to the initial testing of the reactor and finally to that first batch of nuclear medicine that's going to go fight cancer in a patient,” he said.
NextGen MURR was projected to take eight to 10 years to complete, beginning in 2023. However, there have been delays with getting the project going.
Additionally, it's unclear how the Trump administration’s economic policies would affect the multinational effort. Choi said the university came to an initial agreement with Korean partners before any tariffs were introduced.
“At this point we're just exchanging intellectual property. There is no physical assets that are being shipped from South Korea to the United States,” he said. “So I don't believe tariffs are going to be affecting that.”
While securing funding for capital projects is not an unfamiliar task for the university, in the past, large capital projects have been met with difficulty pending the state and federal government’s political climate.
In 2019, the university broke ground on what’s now known as the Roy Blunt NexGen Precision Health Institute, an over $200 million investment in the future of medicine. According to previous Missourian reporting, it was not clear until much later where the $220.8 million needed to build the complex would come from.
University leaders said the funding model for NextGen MURR is still being worked out, but anticipated that half of the project’s costs will be covered by federal or state funding and the other half will be funded by the university in future investment and future income.
Choi noted Wednesday that Gov. Mike Kehoe placed $50 million for the project in the state budget. The Trump administration has been reviewing funds for projects and initiatives across the county, and has rescinded federal funds for some of those projects.
Choi said he believes the message he has about the life-saving potential of NextGen MURR will resonate with federal lawmakers and that he is committed to securing the remaining balance.
“I'll go anywhere to see anyone that will provide support for this project. It is that important, not only for Missouri, but for the United States,” he said.
