Bill Gates' TerraPower starts construction of nuclear power plant
Construction has begun on a new nuclear reactor design called Natrium, near a mining town in Kemmerer, Wyoming (USA). TerraPower, the nuclear technology company founded by Bill Gates, will be responsible for breaking ground on what will be a demonstration complex for this type of reactor.
Bill Gates laid the first stone on the future site where TerraPower will be responsible for designing, manufacturing and building the Natrium demonstration plant. Since the early 2000s, Gates has invested large amounts of money in TerraPowr. Over the years, the former Microsoft CEO has made clear his interest in nuclear power as a solution to fight against climate change.
Bill Gates’ TerraPower will build a new generation of nuclear reactors, called Natrium
TerraPower Project
The Natrium advanced plant demonstration complex is based on a three-part project: the first is a test facility, the second is a fuel fabrication building, and the third is the reactor itself. This project will not only generate wealth and employment, but also benefit the inhabitants of Kemmerer, where the local economy depended on a coal-fired power plant that is now closed.
On his official ‘X’ account, Bill Gates announced: "I've been waiting almost 20 years for this day: Today, we broke ground on the first-ever Natrium plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. This next-generation nuclear power plant is a big step towards safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy”.
The test facility will be at the non-nuclear site at Kemmerer (where the project was inaugurated); it will be an independent building adjacent to the reactor site. Meanwhile, the fuel fabrication facility will be in Wilmington, North Carolina, where TerraPower's partner company GE Hitachi, a supplier of advanced reactors and nuclear services, is located.
“This next-generation nuclear power plant is a big step towards safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy”, said Gates
Bill Gates' reactor
Natrium is a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and represents a new concept for energy generation and storage, hybridizing a sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt storage system.
It simplifies existing reactor types, as all non-nuclear equipment - mechanical, electrical and other - is housed in separate buildings, reducing the complexity of the installation and its cost. In addition, most of the plant's components are manufactured to industrial standards, and the amount of nuclear-class concrete required will be reduced by 80% compared to current large reactors.
According to TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque, "these nuclear units are expected to generate electricity at half the cost of traditional units".
It is important to note that, unlike the light water reactors used in the United States, it operates at a lower power output and is one-third smaller than conventional units.
