Bill Gates’ TerraPower starts building the Natrium nuclear reactor
TerraPower, a company established by Bill Gates, declared its plans to start building the nation’s inaugural fourth-generation power plant named Natrium in June of this year. The site for this investment is set to be the area of the former coal-fired power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
The core of the power plant will feature a reactor capable of producing a base power of 345 megawatts electrical (MWe), with the potential to temporarily increase to 500 MWe for up to 6 hours. This equates to the energy required to supply around 400,000 homes. TerraPower anticipates that the energy generated by their power plant could be integrated into the grid as early as 2030. However, this projection is optimistic considering that the company has not yet secured construction permits from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the primary nuclear regulatory authority in the United States. Despite this, Chris Levesque, the CEO of TerraPower, mentioned in an interview with the Financial Times that construction will commence in June, even if the necessary permit from the NRC is not obtained by then. Levesque explained that most initial construction activities will not be nuclear-related, thus he sees no obstacles to beginning the construction process.
Liquid sodium instead of water
This groundbreaking project incorporates the use of liquid sodium for reactor cooling, leveraging its high boiling point of nearly 900°C under normal pressure. This innovation is expected to yield significant cost savings compared to traditional water cooling methods. Additionally, the power plant will feature a liquid salt energy storage system, further enhancing its efficiency while cutting investment costs by nearly half compared to water-based systems.
TerraPower has secured substantial funding, including nearly $1 billion from private donors and $2 billion in government support from the U.S. With their partner, energy company PacifiCorp, owned by Warren Buffett, they plan to explore deploying an additional five Natrium reactors by 2035. The Natrium project is developed in collaboration with GE Hitachi, known for technologies like the BWRX-300, which has garnered interest from Orlen Synthos Green Energy in Poland.
Source:
terrapower.com