A Nuclear Reactor Backed By Bill Gates Gets Federal Approval To Start Building

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: A novel type of nuclear power plant in Wyoming backed by Bill Gates received a key federal permit on Wednesday, making it the first new U.S. commercial reactor in nearly a decade to receive clearance to begin construction. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal body that oversees reactor safety, unanimously voted (PDF) to grant a construction permit to TerraPower, a start-up founded by Mr. Gates. TerraPower is one of several companies trying to build a new wave of smaller, advanced reactors meant to be easier to build than the large reactors of old.

The permit, which comes after years of consultations and regulatory reviews, means that TerraPower can begin pouring concrete and building the nuclear components of its proposed nuclear plant in Kemmerer, Wyo. The plant, which still faces plenty of logistical hurdles, is currently expected to come online in 2031 near an old coal-burning power plant that is slated to retire a few years later. [...] With its construction permit in hand, the company says it plans to start work on the Wyoming reactor in the coming weeks. The company had already broken ground on the site in 2024 and had begun building the nonnuclear parts of the plant, which did not require a permit.

TerraPower has already had to push back its start date several times, and it will still face hurdles in trying to avoid the snags and cost overruns that have plagued other reactor projects as well as securing the fuel it needs. Before coming online, the reactor will also need to secure a separate operating license from the N.R.C., which has told the company it will continue to monitor several safety issues. TerraPower plans to sell electricity from its first plant to PacificCorp, a utility in the Northwest. The company has also agreed to supply up to eight reactors to Meta to power its data centers in the coming years.

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