TerraPower

In the proverbial shadow of the Naughton Power Plant, a station in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that will stop burning coal at the end of this year, TerraPower is constructing what it calls “the only advanced, non-light-water reactor in the Western Hemisphere being built today.” The project represents more than just a new power source—it’s a symbolic […]

In a critical step aimed at bolstering advanced reactor development and their domestic nuclear fuel readiness, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its first round of allocations for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) under its HALEU Availability Program to five American nuclear developers. On April 9, the DOE said it made conditional commitments to […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its draft safety evaluation (SE) a month ahead of schedule—albeit with open items—for TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1, a pioneering 345-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) under development in Wyoming. Editor’s note: This article was substantially updated on Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. CST to provide deeper […]

Curtiss-Wright Corp. said it has been awarded two contracts from TerraPower to design and supply plant simulation and digital control solutions for the Natrium advanced nuclear reactor design. Under the contracts, Curtiss-Wright will design and deliver the training simulator (TSN) and distributed control systems (DCS) for the Natrium plant. The TSN is a full-scope simulator that […]

TerraPower, the nuclear energy company founded by former Microsoft CEO and co-founder Bill Gates, announced it has a memorandum of understanding with a major U.S. data center developer to deploy advanced nuclear reactors to power existing and future facilities. TerraPower on Jan. 21 said it will work with Sabey Data Centers (SDC) on “a strategic […]

After a decades-long slowdown marked by fits and starts, the U.S. is once again building and innovating in nuclear power. In April, the second of two new nuclear units went into service at Georgia Power’s

Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation firm TerraPower has broken ground on the non-nuclear portion of Kemmerer Unit 1, a 345-MW Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plant. The groundbreaking on June 10 makes the federal demonstration project the first advanced nuclear reactor project to move from design into construction in the Western Hemisphere, the company noted. […]

(Updated—June 1, 2024): Framatome and TerraPower will team to design and develop a pilot line for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) metallization, a crucial deconversion process, at Framatome’s nuclear fuel manufacturing facility in Richland, Washington. The pilot line, which will convert uranium oxide into HALEU metal, is scheduled to be ready for testing in early 2025, […]

The White House has unveiled a suite of new measures aimed at slashing risks associated with new nuclear reactor development and construction, underscoring its policy push to champion nuclear. At a May 29 White House summit that showcased recent policy developments and industry investments, the Biden administration announced the formation of a nuclear working group […]

A group established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates is preparing to begin construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants in June, according to the company’s chief executive. Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, on March 18 said the company is ready to move forward with work on its Natrium reactor at the site of […]