Bill Gates-Backed Nuclear Plant Breaks Ground in Wyoming

The future of nuclear energy just took a major step forward in a small Wyoming town.

TerraPower received approval this week from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin building America's first sodium-cooled nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The company, financially backed by Bill Gates and developed with GE Hitachi, is bringing a radically different approach to nuclear power after decades of stagnation.

The Natrium reactor looks nothing like traditional nuclear plants. Instead of using high-pressure steam that creates safety challenges, it uses liquid sodium to stay cool and transfer heat. The design is smaller too, at 245 megawatts compared to the typical one gigawatt plant.

Here's where it gets really clever. The reactor stores heat in special salt-based materials that can either generate electricity immediately or save it for later. This means the plant can ramp up to 500 megawatts when demand spikes and scale back when solar and wind are producing plenty of cheap power.

That flexibility solves one of clean energy's biggest puzzles. Solar panels and wind turbines can't control when the sun shines or wind blows, but this reactor can adapt around them instead of competing. It's like having a reliable backup dancer that knows exactly when to step into the spotlight.

The approval came nearly 10 months ahead of schedule, likely thanks to the ADVANCE Act passed in June 2024. That legislation streamlined the approval process for next-generation reactor designs, signaling that regulators are ready to embrace innovation in nuclear technology.

The Ripple Effect

This isn't just about one power plant in Wyoming. The Natrium design represents a fast-neutron reactor that can actually consume some radioactive isotopes that would otherwise become waste in traditional plants. That means cleaner, more efficient nuclear energy with less long-term environmental burden.

Only about 25 sodium-cooled reactors have ever been built globally, and the US hasn't constructed one since the 1960s. TerraPower is essentially reviving and reimagining a technology that showed promise but never got its moment to shine.

The project is part of the Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, a public-private partnership designed to prove that new nuclear technologies can work in the real world. Success in Kemmerer could open the door for similar plants across the country.

The reactor won't be ready until 2030, so it won't help with the immediate surge in data center energy demand. But it arrives at exactly the right time to show that nuclear power can be part of a flexible, renewable-friendly energy grid rather than a rigid relic of the past.

Getting construction approval doesn't guarantee the plant will receive operating permission down the road. But after years of planning, applications, and waiting, crews can finally break ground on something that looked impossible just a few years ago.

Clean energy just got a powerful new partner in the fight against climate change.