TerraPower, a nuclear company backed by Bill Gates, celebrated the start of construction of a nuclear reactor facility in Wyoming. The Natrium reactor will be located near a coal power plant in Kemmerer and could become the first sodium-cooled reactor in the United States. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, CEO Chris Levesque, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordeon, and PacifiCorp CEO Cindy Crane attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
The company is focusing on building a small modular nuclear reactor, which is designed to be cheaper and faster to construct compared to traditional reactors. TerraPower was founded in 2006 and is based on technology used in an experimental breeder reactor in Idaho that operated for nearly 30 years. The goal is to start producing power at the Wyoming site by 2030, making it the only coal-to-nuclear project under development in the world.
TerraPower is currently working on the construction of non-nuclear parts of the power plant project while waiting for permit approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the reactor and nuclear components. The company recently became the first to have a permit accepted for review by the NRC to build a commercial advanced reactor. One challenge for the project’s timeline is securing a source of uranium fuel for the reactor.
To address the issue of uranium fuel supply, TerraPower has partnered with Framatome, a French nuclear power company, to design and develop a pilot line for fuel production. The facility will be based in Richland, Washington, with a separate company in Ohio already manufacturing small amounts of the uranium fuel. The company has also raised approximately $1 billion in investments from Gates, SK Inc., and SK Innovation, as well as $2 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
TerraPower’s project in Kemmerer is estimated to cost around $4 billion, although the company has not provided an updated price tag. The groundbreaking ceremony for the nuclear reactor facility marks an important milestone for the local economy, U.S. energy independence, and the fight against climate change. TerraPower’s innovative approach to nuclear power generation could revolutionize the industry and provide a sustainable and reliable source of energy for the future.
