A nuclear energy company started by Bill Gates is building out a new type of nuclear power plant in the United States. And it might reshape the future of carbon free power.
What’s happening:
- Nuclear energy startup TerraPower has officially begun construction of their next generation nuclear plant located in Wyoming known as the Natrium plant
Why it matters:
- Bill Gates is the founder of TerraPower, which has developed a potential breakthrough for nuclear power plant design that requires far fewer resources to operate than traditional nuclear power facilities and can produce carbon free power at low costs
By the numbers:
- Once the Natrium plant in Wyoming is fully constructed and operational, it will generate 350,000 megawatts of energy which is enough to power approximately 400,000 homes in the United States of America
Going deeper:
- The quest for new nuclear energy infrastructure has led to flurry of recent SPAC transactions and IPOs in the United States recently, with Sam Altman backed nuclear company Oklo (NASDAQ: OKLO) and NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) going public
The intrigue:
- TerraPower previously received the single largest grant ever given to a private company for nuclear energy from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to accelerate the development of their proprietary technology
