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The new facility will use a sodium-based cooling process instead of water, according to TerraPower, the Microsoft founder’s nuclear energy company.
Published June 25, 2024
Proposed design for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
Permission granted by TerraPower
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Dive Brief:
Reston, Virginia-based Bechtel recently broke ground in Kemmerer, Wyoming, on an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium instead of water as a coolant, according to a June 10 news release from the contractor.
Bechtel is the engineering, procurement and construction partner on the job, known as the Natrium Demonstration Project, for Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower. The company, which is chaired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, specializes in nuclear energy technology.
The Associated Press reported in 2024 that the cost to build Natrium would be up to $4 billion.
Dive Insight:
To start, construction on Natrium will be limited to non-nuclear features. Work will advance once the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves TerraPower’s permit for the facility’s design, according to Utility Dive.
At its peak, TerraPower claims the work will require 1,600 workers and span five years, leading to an eventual operation date in 2029.
What sets Natrium apart from traditional nuclear power plants is the way it will keep reactor temperatures in check — the facility will use a sodium-based technology to cool the reactor instead of water, which the majority of nuclear facilities use, according to the Department of Energy.
Liquid sodium has a much higher boiling point than water at 882 degrees Celsius, compared to water’s 100 degrees Celsius mark, according to the American Nuclear Society. However, the society also noted that liquid sodium has an explosive reaction if it comes into contact with water.
Nevertheless, TerraPower and Bechtel have characterized the technology as safer than traditional, water-cooled designs. With this system, Bechtel claims that the facility can provide clean, baseload operation at 345 megawatts with the capability to flex as high as 500 megawatts, per the release. This can generate enough energy to power 400,000 homes.
Bechtel, which is the third largest contractor by revenue in the U.S. according to Engineering News-Record’s list of the top builders in the nation, finished a $30 billion nuclear plant in Georgia, Vogtle Unit 3, in July 2023. It also earned a contract to work on NextDecade’s $12 billion Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, Texas that same month.
However, the company has also faced bumps in the road. In April 2023, a Bechtel-owned energy subsidiary named Renovo Energy Co. canceled plans for a $1 billion combined-cycle power plant in central Pennsylvania. These kinds of plants use both gas and steam turbines to generate power, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
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