NRC Approves Permit for TerraPower Nuclear Plant in Wyoming

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a construction permit on Wednesday for the first new commercial nuclear reactor in eight years, allowing a company backed by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates to build an advanced sodium-cooled facility in western Wyoming.

The permit goes to TerraPower, a startup founded by Gates in 2006, which plans to construct the 345-megawatt plant near Kemmerer, a town of about 2,500 residents located 130 miles northeast of Salt Lake City. The site sits adjacent to PacifiCorp's Naughton coal-fired power plant, which is undergoing conversion to natural gas operations. Construction on preparatory site work began in 2024, and TerraPower expects full reactor building to start within weeks, with the project targeted for completion by 2030 at a cost of up to $4 billion.

TerraPower's design, known as Natrium and developed in partnership with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, represents a departure from traditional light-water reactors that dominate the global fleet. Instead of water, the system uses liquid sodium as a coolant and heat transfer medium, operating as a fast-neutron reactor. This approach aims to enhance efficiency and safety by maintaining the...