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Kansas looks at advanced reactor option

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

TerraPower, Evergy and the Kansas Department of Commerce are to explore siting TerraPower's Natrium reactor and energy storage system within Evergy's service territory in Kansas.



A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the nuclear innovation company, the Kansas City-headquartered utility and the state's economic development agency will enable the three entities to collaborate to evaluate site-specific characteristics for a potential advanced nuclear power plant, and to explore the Natrium plant's technical design and ability to support Evergy's customers. Site selection will be based on an evaluation of a variety of factors including community support, the physical characteristics of the site, the ability of the site to obtain a licence from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and access to existing infrastructure, the parties said.

The Natrium reactor - a TerraPower and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy technology - features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system which can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed. This means it can keep a steady base output and ensures reliability, as well as being able to quickly ramp up to meet peak demand. According to TerraPower, it is the only advanced reactor design with the capability to do this.

"Our Natrium technology features a next-generation reactor with enhanced safety and efficiency, paired with utility-scale storage to ensure grid resilience," TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said, adding that the TerraPower team is "excited to advance conversations … on the opportunities that the Natrium reactor and energy storage system brings to Kansas".

Evergy is the majority owner of Wolf Creek, a single unit pressurised water reactor plant that provides around 17% of the state's electricity.

"Nuclear energy has been part of Evergy's generation mix for decades, and this next step will allow us to explore the opportunity to add reliable, non-carbon-emitting advanced nuclear energy in the state of Kansas," said Evergy Chairman and CEO David Campbell. "This agreement supports our all-of-the-above energy strategy and will allow us to evaluate the cost, technology, and feasibility of potentially deploying Natrium advanced nuclear plants."

TerraPower broke ground for its first Natrium plant last year at a site in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Earlier this year, the company formed a strategic alliance with science, technology and engineering solutions company KBR to establish a long-term collaboration for the commercialisation and global deployment of Natrium reactors, which recently announced plans to jointly conduct studies and evaluate potential sites for Natrium technology deployment in the UK. In January, TerraPower signed an MoU with Sabey Data Centers to explore the deployment of Natrium power plants at current and future data centres in the Rocky Mountain region and in Texas.

TerraPower awards Natrium supplier contracts

Thursday, 10 July 2025

TerraPower has announced three more supplier contracts as part of the fifth round of procurement awards for the Natrium project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in the USA.

Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can boost the system’s output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed. TerraPower plans to build the Natrium demonstration plant near a retiring coal facility at Kemmerer.

The three supplier contracts are for: AVANTech LLC, to design advanced sodium processing system modules and supporting skids for the Natrium plant; Structural Integrity Associates, to design and fabricate the Sodium Cover Gas Gamma Spectroscopy Analysis Cabinet radiation monitoring system; and PAR Systems to design and fabricate the Pool Handling Machine, a specialised crane system to safely handle and transport used fuel assemblies with the used fuel pool for storage, inspection and maintenance purposes.

Chris Levesque, TerraPower President and CEO, said: "A resilient and diverse domestic supply chain is crucial to completing our Natrium plant and bringing the first, commercial-scale advanced reactor online in the United States. Each supplier award for the Natrium project reflects our readiness and resolve to deliver reliable, advanced nuclear energy, and I am proud of our entire TerraPower team as we continue to make key project awards."

Terrapower, the first developer to submit a construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March 2024, says it has already secured 100% of the long-lead items for the project as well as the entire Natrium reactor enclosure system.

The NRC said last week that it now expects to complete its review of TerraPower's construction licence application for the Natrium advanced reactor demonstration project by the end of 2025, ahead of the original August 2026 date.

Last month NVentures, the venture capital arm of multinational technology company NVIDIA, was among investors in a USD650 million capital raise, which TerraPower said would support the first Natrium plant as well as the company’s plans to rapidly deploy additional units in the US and abroad. Current investors, including TerraPower-founder Bill Gates and South Korean conglomerate HD Hyundai, also participated.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in June last year to mark the start of non-nuclear construction at the site in Wyoming.

TerraPower welcomes new investors to support SMR plans

Thursday, 19 June 2025

The venture capital arm of multinational technology company NVIDIA is among investors in the USD650 million capital raise, which TerraPower says will support the first Natrium plant as well as the company’s plans to rapidly deploy additional units in the US and abroad.


NVentures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA, was among new investors that took part in the fundraise, which closed on 18 June, TerraPower said. Current investors, including TerraPower-founder Bill Gates and South Korean conglomerate HD Hyundai, have also participated.

"TerraPower was founded on the idea that innovation in nuclear science could make positive, global impacts. This round further establishes that our technologies are the solutions that industry is looking for," TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said. "We are proud to have NVIDIA join our visionary group of investors."

“As AI continues to transform industries, nuclear energy is going to become a more vital energy source to help power these capabilities,” Corporate Vice President and Head of NVentures Mohamed Siddeek said. “TerraPower's nuclear reactor technologies offer innovative, carbon-free solutions to meet global energy needs while minimising environmental impact.”

In March, TerraPower announced a strategic collaboration with HDHyundai affiliate HDHyundai Heavy Industries to expand the global manufacturing supply chain for Natrium small modular reactors, supporting the rapid commercialisation of the technology. In 2024, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was competitively selected by TerraPower to develop the cylindrical reactor vessel to be installed in the first Natrium reactor.

Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can boost the system's output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed. The company began non-nuclear construction activities on the site of the first Natrium plant, at Kemmerer in Wyoming, last year and said it expects to get regulatory approval for the nuclear reactor next year.

As part of the permitting process for the Kemmerer plant, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week issued a draft environmental impact statement for public comment with a deadline of 4 August.

TerraPower said it will continue to be a privately held company, and did not disclose further terms of the fundraise.

Curtiss-Wright wins Natrium contracts

27 February 2025

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has been awarded two contracts to design and supply plant simulation and digital control solutions for TerraPower's Natrium advanced nuclear reactor.


The contracts cover the design and delivery of the Training Simulator and the Distributed Control System for the Natrium plant. The Training Simulator is a full-scope simulator that will replicate plant equipment and simulate system conditions and operations to support operator training and licensing. The Distrbuted Control System is a digital platform that serves as a core component for automating control and operation of plant processes.

The company has also been selected to develop control systems for the plant's nuclear island and its energy island. Previously, Curtiss-Wright has been selected to develop the Reactor Protection System for the Natrium plant, and the software platform and engineering services for the Natrium Engineering Simulator.

The Natrium reactor is a 345 MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage system and can simultaneously both carbon-free electricity, heat and steam to support decarbonisation of power and industrial sectors. The first reactor is being built in Kemmerer, Wyoming and TerraPower experts its first Natrium plant to be on line in 2030.

Wyoming approves permit for demo Natrium plant

15 January 2025

TerraPower has received approval from the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council on its permit for the Natrium demonstration plant near a retiring coal-fired plant at Kemmerer. The permit covers all construction and operational activities on the plant that are not under the jurisdiction of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can boost the system's output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed.

The Industrial Siting Council (ISC) reviews the socio-economic and environmental impacts of industrial facilities before issuing a permit for construction. Emphasis is placed upon social-economic impacts.

The permit from the Wyoming ISC - which TerraPower applied for in October 2024 - will allow for the construction of non-nuclear facilities for the first-of-a-kind plant, including the energy island portion of the Natrium plant that houses the molten-salt energy storage tanks and turbines. With this permit complete, TerraPower will continue its construction schedule, with plans to start construction on both the Kemmerer Training Centre and the energy island in 2025, as well as continue work on the sodium test and fill facility that began in 2024.

"This is the first state permit ever awarded to a commercial-scale advanced nuclear project and is a testament to the groundbreaking work of our TerraPower team," the company's President and CEO Chris Levesque said. "The regulatory process to bring new nuclear plants to fruition is robust, and our team has been working relentlessly to successfully manoeuvre through a complicated, multi-jurisdictional environment to bring the first Natrium plant to market."

TerraPower - a company largely funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates - noted it is the first and only advanced nuclear developer with a permit application for a commercial advanced reactor submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which oversees all nuclear portions of the Natrium plant. That application was submitted in March 2024 and is on track for approval in December 2026.

"The unique Natrium design enables the company to start non-nuclear construction onsite during the NRC review," TerraPower said.

A ground-breaking ceremony held in June last year marked the start of non-nuclear construction at the Kemmerer site, and came weeks after the NRC accepted for docketing TerraPower's application for a construction permit, submitted earlier in 2024.

In its application to the ISC, TerraPower said: "Contingent upon obtaining approval from the ISC and securing all other required permits, building activities are planned to begin in March 2025 and continue for approximately 69 months. Nuclear fuel load is projected for fall of 2030 and commercial operation for the fall of 2031."

TerraPower will need to submit a separate operating licence application to obtain permission to run the reactor.

Suppliers chosen for key components of Natrium demo plant

Thursday, 19 December 2024

TerraPower has awarded the major manufacturing contracts for the first Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor enclosure system. The company says the contracts "represent a significant milestone in the deployment and commercialisation of America's first advanced reactor".


A rendering of a Natrium plant (Image: TerraPower)

Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor using high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can boost the system's output to 500 MWe for more than five and a half hours when needed. TerraPower is constructing the Natrium demonstration plant near a retiring coal facility at Kemmerer in Wyoming.

A ground-breaking ceremony held in June this year marked the start of non-nuclear construction at the site, and came weeks after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted for docketing TerraPower's application for a construction permit, submitted earlier this year. Nuclear construction will begin after the application is approved: the company is eyeing the start of work on the nuclear island in 2026.

TerraPower has now awarded contracts for the reactor's enclosure system. Spanish engineering firm Equipos Nucleares SA will produce the reactor head, while South Korea's Doosan Corporation will supply the core barrel, guard vessel and internal supports for the Natrium reactor. The reactor vessel is to be manufactured by Korea's HD Hyundai and French machinery and equipment manufacturer Marmen will build the rotating plug.

"These awards are the latest in a suite of procurements and investments that TerraPower has made to ensure the successful deployment of the project," the company said.

"The Natrium design is a game-changing technology, and assembling the right team of vendors to construct the first reactor speaks to TerraPower's commitment to commercialising this technology and ensuring advanced nuclear fulfills its role in addressing surging global energy demand," said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque. "Our team continues to lead the way on successfully executing the many elements of building America's next nuclear reactor."

In August 2023, TerraPower - a company largely funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates - selected four suppliers to support the Natrium demonstration project. Western Service Corporation was contracted to provide the software platform and engineering services for the Natrium engineering simulator. James Fisher Technologies will design and build an injection casting furnace system to demonstrate the basic functionality of the injection casting process. Meanwhile, BWXT Canada Ltd will design the intermediate heat exchanger for the Natrium reactor demonstration project, while Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service LLC was contracted to develop the reactor protection system for the demonstration project.

In October, TerraPower signed a term sheet with ASP Isotopes Inc for the construction of a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) production facility in South Africa and a supply agreement for fuel delivery for the Natrium small modular reactor.

TerraPower breaks ground on Natrium reactor demonstration project in US
Being developed near a retiring coal-fired power plant in Kemmerer, the Natrium demonstration plant will feature a 345MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system

Staff Writer 11th Jun 2024

American nuclear innovation company TerraPower has commenced the construction of the Natrium reactor demonstration project in the US state of Wyoming.

Being developed near a retiring coal-fired power plant in Kemmerer, the Natrium demonstration plant will feature a 345MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system.

Its output can be increased to 500MW when required by using the storage technology when required. This energy storage capability will enable the plant to easily integrate with renewable resources and is said to be the only advanced reactor design with this feature.

The American advanced nuclear project, which is part of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program will generate enough energy to provide power to nearly 400,000 households.

Bechtel will deliver engineering, procurement, and construction services for the Natrium reactor demonstration project.

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said: “This first-of-its-kind project is good for the community of KemmererDiamondville, the State of Wyoming, and our nation.

“As Natrium moves boldly toward establishing a new domestic energy source, it offers the promise of hundreds of jobs, enhanced careers, and renewed vitality.”

According to TerraPower, the Natrium demonstration project is the only coal-to-nuclear project under development in the world. It is also the first advanced nuclear reactor project under construction in the Western Hemisphere, said the firm.

The construction of the nuclear reactor project will span five years. At the project’s peak, nearly 1,600 workers will be required for the construction.

TerraPower also estimates that 250 people will support day-to-day activities, including plant security once the reactor is operational.

Upon its completion, the Natrium demonstration plant will become a fully functioning commercial power plant.

TerraPower chairman and founder Bill Gates said: “I’m proud of all the partners and people who helped get the most advanced nuclear project in the world built in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

“I believe that TerraPower’s next-generation nuclear energy will power the future of our nation—and the world.”

TerraPower submitted its construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Natrium reactor earlier this year.

The groundbreaking pertains to the non-nuclear construction, while the nuclear construction will begin after the application is approved.

Natrium de TerraPower : où en est la centrale nucléaire refroidie au sodium liquide de Bill Gates ?

Avec sa société TerraPower, Bill Gates est en bonne voie pour construire sa première centrale nucléaire nouvelle génération dès cet été. Elle doit voir le jour à Kemmerer, dans le Wyoming, et entrer en service en 2030.

PIERRE MONNIER Publié le 20/03/2024

Les États-Unis n'ont jamais été aussi proche de déployer une avancée majeure dans le domaine du nucléaire. La société TerraPower, spécialisée dans la conception de réacteurs nucléaires, doit débuter la construction de sa première unité nouvelle génération à partir de l'été.

Chris Levesque, le directeur général de l'entreprise, a confié au Financial Times que la demande du permis de construire du projet se ferait au cours de ce mois de mars.

Deux milliards de dollars de financement par le gouvernement américain

Fondé par Bill Gates (également à l'origine de Microsoft), TerraPower cherche à révolutionner la manière de produire de l'électricité dans les centrales nucléaires. Le projet qu'elle mène dans le Wyoming vise à mettre en œuvre un réacteur qui ne serait pas refroidi par de l'eau, mais par du sodium liquide. Cette particularité devrait faire baisser considérablement les coûts de fabrication des installations de moitié selon Chris Levesque.

Les États-Unis semblent miser sur cette nouvelle technologie – commercialisée sous le nom de réacteur Natrium par TerraPower – puisqu'ils ont accordé deux milliards de dollars à l'entreprise pour compléter la construction de leur première usine à Kemmerer, dans le Wyoming.

Le site promet de produire 345 mégawatts électriques. Mais cette capacité pourrait être portée à 500 MWe en cas de besoin. Les réacteurs Natrium peuvent s'appuyer sur un stockage d'énergie pour augmenter leur puissance durant cinq heures et demie. Cette unité fonctionne grâce à du sel fondu qui permet de conserver une partie de l'énergie produite afin de la redistribuer au moment opportun, comme c'est le cas dans les centrales solaires. Au total, 400 000 foyers devraient être alimentés lors de ces pics d'activité, pointe Forbes.

250 salariés prévus à l'horizon 2023

Si la demande du permis de construire doit se faire dans les prochains jours, Chris Levesque a prévenu que la construction débutera au mois de juin. Et ce, que l'autorisation de la Commission de réglementation nucléaire soit effective ou non : de par sa nature innovante, les premières étapes du chantier du réacteur Natrium de TerraPower ne concernent pas les activités nucléaires du site.

La construction du site prévoit de solliciter 1 600 travailleurs dans le secteur du bâtiment. La centrale nécessitera 250 salariés pour fonctionner lorsqu'elle entrera pleinement en service en 2030, malgré un retard de deux ans suite à des difficultés d'approvisionnement en Uranium liées à la guerre en Ukraine. Il s'agira alors de la première installation commerciale à grande échelle de TerraPower, mettant en œuvre ses réacteurs Natrium.

L'entreprise a d'ores et déjà signé un accord avec Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation pour évaluer les possibilités d'exportation de sa technologie aux Émirats Arabes Unis. Pour ce qui est du territoire américain, un partenariat avec PacifiCorp a été conclu à l'automne 2022. L'objectif de TerraPower et du spécialiste de l'énergie est de construire cinq réacteurs Natrium supplémentaires d'ici 2035.

Pourquoi ArcelorMittal investit 25 millions de dollars dans la start-up nucléaire TerraPower
ArcelorMittal a annoncé le 3 novembre avoir participé au tour de table de la start-up nucléaire américaine TerraPower à hauteur de 25 millions d’euros.

Aurélie Barbaux 04 Novembre 2022 Usine Nouvelle

Les petits réacteurs nucléaires (SMR) ont le vent en poupe pour décarboner l’industrie. Et notamment dans la sidérurgie. Pour s’affranchir du coke ou du gaz, les aciéristes vont avoir besoin de beaucoup d’électricité pour les fours à arc, mais aussi pour produire l’hydrogène nécessaire à la réduction directe du minerai. Or la crise énergétique actuelle montre que les industriels vont devoir sécuriser leur approvisionnement en trouvant des solutions innovantes.

[...abonnés]

ArcelorMittal invests $25 million in breakthrough nuclear power innovator TerraPower

Press Releases 03 November 2022

ArcelorMittal (the ‘Company’) today announces it has invested $25 million in nuclear innovation company TerraPower through its XCarb® Innovation Fund. The investment is part of an $830 million equity raise TerraPower has concluded, which is the largest private raise among advanced nuclear companies.

TerraPower, which was founded by Bill Gates in 2008, entered the nuclear energy arena because the company’s founders saw clean energy as the pathway to lift billions out of poverty. It has spent the last decade investing in and developing ground-breaking nuclear technologies.

Its flagship technology is Natrium™, which features a cost-competitive sodium fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system. This combination will provide clean, flexible energy and integrate seamlessly into power grids with high penetrations of renewables. TerraPower is experiencing significant growth, and is currently building its first Natrium™ reactor, a TerraPower and GE Hitachi technology, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The facility, being constructed near the site of a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, will feature a 345 MWe sodium fast reactor alongside an energy storage system that can boost output to 500 MWe during peak demand. Large scale, first-of-a-kind, energy generation projects like the Natrium™ project take years to come to fruition, and TerraPower is targeting an in-service date for the project within this decade.

US companies look to expand Natrium reactor deployment

28 October 2022

TerraPower and PacifiCorp are looking into the feasibility of deploying up to five additional Natrium reactors and integrated energy storage systems in PacifiCorp's service territory by 2035. This is in addition to their previously announced plans to build the Natrium demonstration plant at the site of a retiring PacifiCorp coal-fuelled plant in Wyoming.


TerraA rendering of a Natrium plant (Image: TerraPower

Their joint study into the potential expansion is a "significant step toward building the energy grid of the future for PacifiCorp's customers and a tangible example of the promise advanced nuclear brings to utilities serious about leading the nation's energy transition," TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said. "We look forward to evaluating new potential sites for Natrium plants that have the same energy expertise and capabilities as our demonstration site."

The study will include the potential for advanced reactors to be located near current fossil-fuelled generation sites, enabling PacifiCorp to repurpose existing generation and transmission assets for the benefit of its customers. Both companies will engage with local communities before any final sites are selected, they said.

Gary Hoogeveen, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power - a division of PacifiCorp - said Natrium plants represent a carbon-free, dispatchable and reliable energy resource. "This is just a first step, as advanced nuclear power needs to be evaluated through our resource planning processes as well as receive regulatory approval. But it's an exciting opportunity that advances us down the path to a net zero energy future," he said.

The US Congress and Department of Energy have taken proactive steps to continue to support the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies to help reach carbon-free goals, the companies said: "With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and recent studies on the opportunities of a coal-to-nuclear energy transition, the role for advanced nuclear is clear. TerraPower and PacifiCorp remain committed to bringing the Natrium technology to market and providing reliability and stability to the grid as well as to energy producing communities."

Kemmerer in Wyoming was announced in November 2021 as the preferred site for the Natrium nuclear power plant demonstration project, which will feature a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The site is close to PacifiCorp's coal-fired Naughton power plant, which is due to retire in 2025.

Subsurface investigations at the site were completed earlier this year, and TerraPower expects to submit a construction permit application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2023. Early earthwork activities for construction, as well as construction of the Large Sodium Test Facility - a non-nuclear building that will be used for testing critical components of the plant using molten sodium - is also expected to begin next year.

Hundreds of coal power plant sites across the USA could potentially be converted to nuclear plant sites, according to a US Department of Energy study published in September.

PacifiCorp is a regulated utility serving customers in the western USA. Its current 11,668 MWe of generation capacity includes hydro, wind, natural gas, coal, solar and geothermal resources.Power).jpg?ext=.jpg[/img]

Réacteur nucléaire à neutrons rapides : le Japon s'associe à la société américaine de Bill Gates TerraPower

AFPparue le 27 janv. 2022 -

L'Agence japonaise de l'énergie atomique et l'industriel nippon Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) ont annoncé jeudi un protocole d'accord avec TerraPower, une société américaine fondée et présidée par Bill Gates projetant de construire un réacteur nucléaire à neutrons rapides aux États-Unis.

MHI va "explorer les possibilités de fournir un soutien technique et de participer au développement" de ce réacteur de quatrième génération censé être construit d'ici 2028 dans le Wyoming (ouest des États-Unis), selon un communiqué du groupe nippon. En collaborant sur ce projet nucléaire de pointe, MHI compte aussi "en tirer de l'expertise et du savoir-faire pour contribuer à la progression de l'innovation nucléaire au Japon", a-t-il précisé.

La filière nucléaire japonaise est toujours convalescente et controversée depuis la catastrophe de Fukushima en 2011. Mais le gouvernement nippon espère relancer ce secteur pour réduire la grande dépendance énergétique de l'archipel et ses importantes émissions de CO2. Toutes les centrales atomiques du pays avaient été arrêtées après l'accident de Fukushima, causé par un terrible tsunami dans le nord-est du pays. Seuls dix réacteurs japonais ont redémarré depuis, après des travaux pharaoniques pour améliorer leur sécurité. Cinquante autres réacteurs sont arrêtés, définitivement pour plus de la moitié d'entre eux.

D'un coût estimé à 4 milliards de dollars et financé pour moitié par le département américain de l'Énergie, le projet Natrium de TerraPower consiste à fabriquer un réacteur à neutrons rapides refroidis au sodium, d'une puissance de 345 mégawatts. Cette technologie dite de "surgénération" doit permettre de réutiliser le plutonium issu du combustible usagé.

En 2014, l'Agence japonaise de l'énergie atomique et MHI s'étaient associés au projet français de surgénérateur Astrid, mais celui-ci a été gelé par la France en 2019. Le Japon s'intéresse depuis très longtemps à cette technologie, ayant construit entre les années 1970 et 1990 deux réacteurs expérimentaux de ce type sur son sol, Joyo puis Monju.

Après plusieurs incidents, dont un grave en 1995, le surgénérateur de Monju (situé dans le département de Fukui, dans le sud-ouest de l'archipel) a été arrêté et la décision de le démanteler a été prise en 2016.

Président de TerraPower depuis sa création en 2006, le multimilliardaire américain Bill Gates, fondateur et ancien patron de Microsoft, voit dans le nucléaire de nouvelle génération un moyen d'atteindre à terme la neutralité carbone dans le monde pour lutter contre le réchauffement climatique.

TerraPower circles 2023 for Natrium construction permit

18 June 2021

TerraPower hopes to apply for a construction permit in August 2023 and an operating licence in March 2026 for its Natrium fast reactor, according to a regulatory engagement plan (REP) it has sent to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
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How a Natrium plant may appear (Image: TerraPower)

TerraPower and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas joined forces in 2019 to develop the Natrium technology, which features a sodium-cooled fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system. The ratings for the Natrium reactor will be 840 MWt and the energy island will have the capability to produce up to 500 MWe.
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Pilot Natrium plant to be built in Wyoming

03 June 2021

Plans to construct a Natrium reactor demonstration project at a retiring coal plant in the US state of Wyoming were announced yesterday by TerraPower, PacifiCorp and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. The companies are evaluating several potential locations in the state for the plant, which will feature a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system that can boost the system's output to 500 MWe for more than five-and-a-half hours when needed. They expect to announce the selected site by the end of 2021.


ow a Natrium plant may appear (Image: TerraPower)

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