Energy & Nuclear Power

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its first commercial nuclear reactor construction permit in eight years, authorizing Bill Gates‑backed TerraPower to build a sodium‑cooled reactor at PacifiCorp’s Naughton power plant site near Kemmerer, Wyoming. TerraPower applied for the permit in 2024 and says construction will begin within weeks, with completion of the up to $4 billion plant targeted for 2030. The advanced 'natrium' reactor is rated at 345 megawatts but could generate up to 500 megawatts at peak, enough electricity for as many as 400,000 homes, and will sit alongside a coal‑fired unit being converted to natural gas that will keep operating for now. TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said the company has spent 'thousands of manpower hours' to reach this point, while Gates is promoting nuclear as a way to supply power‑hungry AI data centers. The decision marks a rare regulatory greenlight for new U.S. nuclear capacity and will be closely watched as a test of whether next‑generation reactor designs can be built on time and on budget after years of cost overruns elsewhere.