The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved its first construction permit for a commercial nuclear reactor in eight years, one that will allow a Bill Gates-backed company to build a sodium-cooled reactor in western Wyoming.
TerraPower filed for the permit in 2024 and construction is now set to begin within weeks. Completion of the up to $4 billion plant is targeted for 2030, according to TerraPower. Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is eyeing nuclear generation as a power source for the electricity-hungry data centers behind artificial intelligence, is a founder of TerraPower and its primary investor.
“We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a statement.
The TerraPower plant is set to be built near a coal-fired power plant that is being converted to burn natural gas outside Kemmerer, a town of about 2,500 people some 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Salt Lake City.
Gates and his energy company are seeking to develop a next-generation nuclear plant that would “revolutionize” how power is generated. The 345-megawatt reactor is expected to produce up to 500 megawatts at its peak, enough energy for up to 400,000 homes.