TerraPower is the nuclear reactor design company of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Photo: Mike Cohen / Getty Images
Bill Gates, who has proclaimed himself an advocate for the environment, will build a small nuclear plant generation in Wyoming, as soon as a state coal-fired power plant is decommissioned.
The aforementioned coal plant will be withdrawn and the nuclear plant is expected to be built in the coming years, according to state government authorities.
The new plant will have a sodium reactor and a molten salt energy storage system It is expected to work better, be safer and cost less than traditional nuclear power, said Bill Gates, founder of TerraPower.
TerraPower is the nuclear reactor design company of the co-founder of Microsoft.
TerraPower, based in Bellevue, Washington, is working with Rocky Mountain Power, which is an electric utility serving Wyoming and other western states.
Rocky Mountain Power will install the Natrium reactor in Wyoming, but its location will be decided later this year.
“We believe Natrium will be a game changer for the energy industry. Wyoming has been an energy leader for over a century and we hope that our investment in Natrium will help Wyoming stay ahead for many more decades, ”Gates said in a video link to a press conference hosted by the Republican governor of the United States. Mark Gordon status, as reported by the East Idaho News.
It should be noted that Wyoming is the leading uranium mining state, and the reactor would use uranium from ‘in situ’ mines that extract the heavy metal from water well networks in the high plains, authorities said.
Wyoming is also the top coal mining state. America’s coal industry has suffered a dramatic recession over the past decade as utilities switch to cheaper, cleaner burning gas to generate electricity.
If as reliable as conventional nuclear power, the new 345-megawatt plant will produce enough power for roughly 400,000 homes, TerraPower reported on its website.
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