Bill Gates said he is ready to invest billions of dollars in a next-generation nuclear power plant project in Wyoming to meet America’s growing electricity needs.
TerraPower LLC, a startup founded by Gates, began construction of its first commercial reactor last week in Wyoming, where a coal plant is closing, the billionaire co-founder said. Microsoft Corp. said on CBS Face the nation. TerraPower has been exploring simpler, cheaper reactors since 2008 and plans to complete the new reactor in 2030.
“I have invested over a billion and I will invest billions more,” said Gates, the sixth richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The TerraPower plant, which has support from the US Department of Energy, was initially expected to be operational in 2028. But that would have meant relying on Russian fuel, which is “unacceptable now”, Gates said on CNN. Fareed Zakaria GPS.
The reactor design uses liquid sodium as a coolant rather than water and includes molten salt that can store heat to increase its output. TerraPower plans to source its reactor fuel from the United States and its allies, Gates said.
“Coal has competition from natural gas,” Gates told CNN. “So what we need to do is compete effectively with natural gas. »
Carbon-free nuclear power is increasingly seen as a key part of the fight against climate change, and more companies are promoting smaller reactors. Last year, at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, 25 countries declared their ambition to triple nuclear capacity, according to BloombergNEF.
