Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower has begun nuclear construction for its molten salt Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo., the company announced Thursday.
“This is the moment our industry has been working toward for a generation. We’re not just breaking new ground on a first-of-a-kind nuclear plant in Wyoming; we’re building the next generation of America’s energy infrastructure,” TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said in TerraPower’s press release.
The groundbreaking for the Kemmerer reactor comes a month after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued TerraPower a construction permit. TerraPower said it has a workforce of nearly 1,600 to start construction of the Natrium plant. When operational, the Kemmerer plant will employ around 250 full-time employees.
TerraPower expects the Kemmerer Unit 1 project to be completed by 2030.
TerraPower will convert an old coal-powered plant in Kemmerer, Wyo. into a nuclear plant, Kemmerer Unit 1. The plant will have the Natrium design, a 345-megawatt sodium fast reactor, with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The energy storage technology can boost the system’s capacity to 500 megawatts of power when needed.
Bechtel, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, has been working with TerraPower on the Kemmerer site for several years. Dena Volovar, president of Bechtel’s nuclear, security and environmental business, said in Bechtel’s Thursday press release that the company looks forward to bringing advanced nuclear technologies, such as the Natrium reactor, from “first-of-a-kind innovation to repeatable, scalable delivery.”
“Over the past year, Bechtel teams completed early works at the Natrium site, including the test and fill facility and the Kemmerer training center, laying the foundation for safe construction and long-term operations,” Volovar said.
Volovar continued: “With construction now underway at Kemmerer Unit 1, we are moving into field execution with a high level of readiness, supported by integrated planning, early collaboration, and close alignment with regulators.”
TerraPower selected Bechtel as the Natrium project’s engineering and construction partner in 2020. The two companies have already started non-nuclear construction at the Kemmerer site in July 2024.
“As the country’s number one producer of uranium, Wyoming is the perfect place to build TerraPower’s advanced nuclear reactor,” Sen. John Barrasso said. “Starting construction on this groundbreaking project will create more jobs in Kemmerer and help expand Wyoming’s already strong energy economy.”
Kemmerer will be developed through the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. Through this public-private partnership, DOE will financially support the Natrium reactor’s technology and commercial viability.