Construction for a new type of nuclear power plant, which Bill Gates believes will revolutionize power generation, has begun at the Wyoming site owned by his energy company.
On Monday, Gates visited the small town of Kemmerer to initiate the project. As the chairman of TerraPower, the Microsoft co-founder applied for a construction permit for a cutting-edge nuclear reactor in March. Unlike traditional reactors that use water for cooling, this advanced reactor would use sodium. It has been proposed to function as a commercial nuclear power plant if it receives approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant is located next to the site where the nuclear reactor will be constructed. PacifiCorp has announced that the power plant will cease burning coal in 2026 and natural gas ten years later. Since nuclear reactors do not emit greenhouse gases, the company plans to obtain carbon-free power from the reactor and is currently considering how much nuclear energy to incorporate into its long-term planning.
On Monday, the preparation work started with the goal of having the site prepared for TerraPower to construct the reactor promptly in case their permit is sanctioned. The forefront in the development of sodium-cooled reactors is currently held by Russia.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Gates addressed the audience and stated that they were currently standing on the very foundation of what will soon become America’s energy future.
Gates expressed his excitement about the significant advancement towards safe, abundant, and zero-carbon energy. He emphasized the importance of the success of such projects for the future of the country.
In contrast to conventional water-cooled reactors, advanced reactors utilize a different coolant and operate at higher temperatures and lower pressures. Although this technology has existed for many years, the US has predominantly constructed large, conventional water-cooled reactors for commercial power generation. The NRC notes that the Wyoming project represents the first instance in roughly forty years where a company has endeavored to establish an advanced reactor as a commercial power plant in the US.
According to Chris Levesque, the CEO and President of the company, it is high time to switch to advanced nuclear technology that incorporates cutting-edge computer modeling and physics to create a plant design that is more affordable, secure, and productive.
The Natrium reactor demonstration project by TerraPower is a design of a fast reactor that is cooled by sodium and has an energy storage system of molten salt.
During an interview, Levesque expressed that the industry has been repeating past performance and not moving forward with new technology. He believes that this approach has been beneficial for reliability, but it is not enough to meet the electricity demands of the coming decades or to address the cost issues with nuclear and nuclear energy. TerraPower and its founders have recognized the need to innovate and are committed to doing so.
Georgia has completed construction of two brand new American reactors, marking the first time in a generation that scratch-built reactors have been built. The expansion project, which saw Plant Vogtle go from two large traditional reactors to four, cost almost $35 billion. However, there were significant cost overruns, with $11 billion being attributed to the project’s final price tag.
According to Levesque, the TerraPower initiative is anticipated to incur a cost of $4 billion, with half of the amount being provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. It is important to note that this cost includes expenses for designing and licensing the reactor, which will not be incurred in future endeavors, thus reducing the cost significantly.
In the United States, several advanced nuclear reactors in the developmental stage rely on high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel. This type of fuel has a higher percentage of the uranium-235 isotope compared to the fuel utilized by conventional reactors. However, TerraPower had to push back its launch date by two years, to 2030, in Wyoming due to the fact that Russia is the only commercial supplier of this fuel. Nevertheless, TerraPower is collaborating with other companies to explore alternative sources. Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Department is working towards domestically developing this fuel.
In an article published in Science on Thursday, Edwin Lyman expressed his concerns about the potential use of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) in nuclear weapons. Lyman, who serves as the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, acknowledged that the current risk posed by HALEU is relatively low due to its limited availability worldwide. However, he warned that this could change in the future if larger quantities of the fuel are produced to support advanced reactor projects. Lyman aims to raise awareness of this potential danger, with the hope that the international community will take action to enhance security measures surrounding the production and storage of HALEU.
According to Scott Burnell, a spokesperson for the NRC, the agency believes that their existing requirements are sufficient to uphold the security and safety of both newly constructed reactors and their fuel.
In 2008, Gates took part in the founding of TerraPower. The aim was to utilize the private sector to drive the development of advanced nuclear energy, with the ultimate goal of providing a safe, abundant, and carbon-free source of energy.
TerraPower has developed a 345-megawatt reactor that can produce up to 500 megawatts at its maximum capacity, providing enough energy to power up to 400,000 homes. Initially, the company plans to use its reactors to generate electricity. However, TerraPower also has plans to construct reactors in the vicinity of industrial plants to provide high heat in the future.
John Kotek, from the Nuclear Energy Institute, stated that burning fossil fuels is the primary method for obtaining high heat in almost all industrial processes. However, advanced reactors have the potential to produce heat that can be used for generating hydrogen, petrochemicals, ammonia, and fertilizer.
According to the senior vice president for policy at the industry group, Gates’ investment in nuclear power to combat the climate crisis is notable given his background as a technological innovator and advocate for climate action.
According to him, nuclear power has played an important role in addressing carbon emissions, and people are starting to recognize this fact. He also stated that there is a growing momentum for new nuclear technology in the United States, with the potential for a wider range of nuclear energy technology than we have seen in decades.
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