TerraPower gets OK to start construction of its first nuclear plant
Plant won’t be done until 2030 at the earliest, and it still needs an operating license.
TL;DR
- The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted TerraPower approval to begin construction on a new type of nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
- This is the first construction approval issued by the NRC in nearly a decade.
- The reactor, named Natrium, is a sodium-cooled fast-neutron reactor with integrated energy storage.
- Key features include liquid sodium cooling for lower pressure operation and the potential to consume radioactive waste isotopes.
- The energy storage system will allow the plant to operate alongside renewables and temporarily output more power.
- Globally, sodium-cooled reactors are rare, with limited operational history for power generation.
- The project is a public-private partnership and is expected to be completed in 2030.
- TerraPower still requires an operating license before the plant can generate power.