Company founded by Bill Gates is building first nuclear plant in Wyoming
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has completed a final environmental assessment for preliminary activities at TerraPower’s Natrium reactor system demonstration project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, a statement said.
The DOE said it had found no significant impact from planned activities for what will be Unit 1 at the advanced nuclear plant near a retired coal-fired station in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
The DOE said it is proposing an authorisation of federal funding for TerraPower to carry out the activities, which include site preparation, non-structural backfill, construction of multiple buildings, and establishing temporary power.
The Natrium system comprises a 345-MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt energy storage system that is being designed to flexibly operate with renewable power generators.
TerraPower, a startup founded by Gates in 2008, broke ground in June 2024 for construction of its first commercial Natrium nuclear plant at Kemmerer, where a coal plant is shutting down.
The Natrium demonstration plant includes three separate project parts: a sodium test and fill facility, the power production or energy island, and the nuclear island with the reactor itself.
The initial construction will focus on the test and fill facility, a separate, non-nuclear building designed to serve as a testing site for the reactor’s sodium coolant system. It will handle the receipt, sampling, processing, and storage of liquid sodium before it is eventually delivered to the Natrium reactor.
The DOE has a seven-year, $2bn (€1.9bn) agreement to fund TerraPower’s project under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme. The company is matching this investment dollar-for-dollar for a total cost estimated at about $4bn.
The agreement was signed in 2020. The first unit of the Kemmerer natrium plant is expected to be online around 2029-2030.
