Significant changes are coming to Kemmerer, Wyoming. The small town used to rely entirely on coal, but now it’s looking to become the epicenter of the next generation of nuclear technology. Who’s behind the project? None other than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
From coal to nuclear energy. Kemmerer is a former mining town of 2,400 people. For decades, its inhabitants lived off the coal-fired power plant. The mine is now closed, and the authorities have yet to dismantle the plant as part of efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.
However, the local economy has taken a promising turn in recent months. TerraPower, a company founded in 2008 with Gates as a major investor, has chosen this small Wyoming town as the site for its innovative nuclear power plant. Gates himself broke ground on the project in June.
The first Natrium plant. Gates called it “the most advanced nuclear facility in the world.” The facility in Kemmerer will be the first of the company's so-called Natrium plants, which promise to be safer, cheaper, and more efficient than conventional nuclear power plants.
The secret is its fourth-generation modular reactor, cooled by sodium and with an energy storage system based on molten salts. It will have automatic temperature control mechanisms and operating it will cost less than a regular fission reactor.
Technical details. The reactor uses an advanced uranium-zirconium metal alloy with a sodium bond as nuclear fuel. It promises a thermal output of 840 MW. Meanwhile, its electrical output will be 345 MW, but it can temporarily reach up to 500 MW to compensate for the intermittency of renewable resources.
This capacity is enough to power about 400,000 homes with clean energy. According to TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque, the plant is three times smaller than traditional nuclear plants, which will help cut costs in half.
The economic details. The plant will cost about $4 billion, half of which will be provided by the Department of Energy. Gates—the leading private investor and advocate of nuclear power as scalable, carbon-free energy—has donated $1 billion of his own money.
This number is significantly less than the recent expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia, which went from two to four reactors for the modest price of $35 billion.
Leveraging a skilled workforce. As for Kemmerer, the project may create 1,600 skilled construction jobs and 250 ongoing jobs, primarily for former coal plant workers.
TerraPower expects the plant to be operational by 2030. In the meantime, the company is building the “power island” that will house the steam turbines and machinery. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t yet given TerraPower permission to build the nuclear reactor.
Image | TerraPower
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