A research center built in collaboration with the United States opened Wednesday to study how to produce hydrogen gas.

The Science and Technology Ministry on Wednesday said an opening ceremony was held to launch the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Hydrogen Joint Development Center in Daejeon, which will begin operations next month.

The state-run Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the American company General Atomics and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction will jointly run the center.

The institute said that with the opening of the center, the nation will share General Atomics accumulated research experience and key technologies in nuclear hydrogen.

Since the 1970s, the company has worked on a new reactor system, an essential part of developing nuclear hydrogen technology.