Tech billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates has announced his commitment to invest billions of dollars in a groundbreaking nuclear power plant project in Wyoming. The project, led by Gates’ startup TerraPower, aims to meet the growing power needs of the United States while promoting carbon-free energy.
Construction of TerraPower’s first commercial reactor began last week at the site of a shutting-down coal plant in Wyoming. The innovative reactor design utilizes liquid sodium as a coolant and incorporates molten salt for heat storage, allowing for increased output.
Initially slated for completion in 2028, the project faced delays due to the need to source fuel from the US and its allies instead of relying on Russia. When completed, TerraPower’s first power plant is expected to produce 345 MWe, enough to power 400,000 homes. Construction is estimated to take 36 months from the first nuclear concrete pour to fuel load.
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Gates, who has already invested over a billion dollars in the project, plans to contribute billions more to ensure its success. The US Department of Energy has also backed the initiative.
“I put in over a billion, and I’ll put in billions more,” Gates said on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday.
As natural gas outcompetes coal, Gates emphasizes the importance of developing competitive alternatives to combat climate change.
“Coal is being outcompeted by natural gas,” he said. “And so what we have to do is compete effectively with natural gas.”
The project aligns with the global ambition to triple nuclear capacity, as declared by 25 nations at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai last year.
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