Bill Gates’ nuclear power company selects site for first reactor

• 2 years ago (2021-11-19)
• David Flin

North America 998 Nuclear 640

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TerraPower , the US-based nuclear power company backed by Bill Gates, has announced that it has selected Kemmerer, Wyoming, USA as the site for its first 345 MW reactor, to be built on the site of the coal-fired Naughton power plant, which is being closed.

The reactor design is being developed jointly with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy , and Bechtel will help with construction. The design is being called Natrium .

The reactor will use liquid sodium. TerraPower said that it won’t directly convert the heat extracted from the reactor into power. Instead, it will store it as molten salt. As a result, although the reactor will be rated at 345 MW, it will be able to reach 500 MW during periods of peak demand or scale down to lower production when demand is reduced. This will enable the site to better integrate with renewable power.