The reactor is ‘a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy,’ says Bill Gates
A company Bill Gates co-founded in 2008, TerraPower, broke ground on a next-generation nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming this week. The man who helped create Microsoft believes the plant will “revolutionize” the way energy is generated.
It will have an advanced reactor that will use sodium for cooling instead of water.
TerraPower’s Natrium reactor incorporates molten salt energy storage and is expected to cost up to $4 billion, with half of it funded by the US Department of Energy.
The two American-built reactors recently finished by a Georgia utility cost $35 billion.
The reactor is adjacent to PacifiCorp’s soon-to-be-decommissioned coal and gas plant. It is “a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy,” Gates said.
The initial 345-megawatt reactor, capable of peaking at 500 megawatts, aims to power up to 400,000 homes. Future reactors might supply industrial plants with high heat, potentially replacing fossil fuels in various industrial processes.
The project, however, faces challenges, including sourcing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, currently supplied only by Russia. Efforts are underway to develop alternative domestic supplies.
Gates’ involvement underscores the growing momentum and crucial role of nuclear power in addressing climate change.