Bill Gates-backed TerraPower is the first in the nation to receive federal approval to build its next-generation nuclear power plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its unanimous decision on Wednesday.
TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque has been expecting the NRC’s green light, telling GeekWire in January that the permits will put the company “a year ahead of anyone else” pursuing new nuclear in the U.S.
“Our team has worked relentlessly for over 4 years with the NRC staff to get to this moment,” Levesque said in a statement announcing the decision. “We had extensive pre-application engagement with the NRC; and we submitted a robust and thorough construction permit application almost 2 years ago. We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment.”
After being largely mothballed for decades, America’s nuclear sector has kicked into hyper speed as tech giants scramble to power data centers nationwide and energy demands are spiking for commercial, residential and industrial uses.
TerraPower’s approval unlocks additional nuclear facilities on short timelines.
In January, the company signed a deal with Meta to build up to eight advanced reactors in the U.S. with the first two coming online as soon as 2032. If the full order is fulfilled, all of the reactors aim to be operational by 2035.
The company also has memorandums of understanding with government departments in Utah and Kansas to explore the potential siting of Natrium reactors in those states.
“We plan to build hundreds of Natrium reactors,” Levesque told GeekWire. “We’re very focused on delivering the first one on time,” he added, and then quickly begin scaling.
Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower is engineering a new model of smaller, less expensive nuclear reactors that can be produced in three years from fabricated components — instead of the past approach of constructing giant, one-off structures that take a decade to erect.
It broke ground on demonstration plant in Kemmerer, Wyo., in 2024, starting with construction of non-nuclear components of the facility. The goal is to start splitting atoms there by the end of 2030.
National leaders have pushed for federal oversight changes to speed the deployment of new reactors. That includes passage of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act during the Biden administration and executive orders issued by President Trump.
Approval of the application to build a nuclear reactor was granted in 18 months — much faster than the initial estimate of a 27-month review. TerraPower credits the federal support of the sector as well as the company’s responsiveness to NRC questions and efforts by the NRC staff for the quicker turnaround.
