The U.S. nuclear regulator has approved the construction of the small TerraPower nuclear reactor in Wyoming, backed by Bill Gates. This is the first approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a commercial reactor in nearly a decade. The reactor, with a capacity of 345 megawatts, is planned to be operational near a coal plant by the early 2030s. TerraPower intends to start construction in the coming weeks.
The reactor includes an energy storage system that can temporarily increase production up to 500 MW. The NRC completed its technical review of the new design in less than 18 months.
President Donald Trump, aiming to quadruple U.S. nuclear energy production capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050, issued decrees last year to expedite licensing by the NRC.
TerraPower’s Natrium reactor will use a special fuel called high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), typically produced only in Russia. The NRC’s staff expects to issue the license soon.
In January, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded American Centrifuge Operating and General Matter $900 million each to develop domestic production of HALEU.
HALEU is uranium enriched to nearly 20% instead of the 5% typically used in current reactors. Non-proliferation advocates have pushed for HALEU to be enriched only to 12% to prevent it from being used for nuclear weapons.
The Department of Energy is also supporting the Natrium reactor with up to $2 billion in funding through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
