The NPP will be characterized by small size and high level of safety
TerraPower, a nuclear power company funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, will build a next-generation nuclear reactor. A Wyoming coal-fired power plant site has been selected for this purpose and will be retired very soon.
The sodium reactor uses TerraPower and GE-Hitachi technology. The project is one of two concepts supported by the US Department of Energy with an initial round of funding totaling $ 160 million.
“Our innovative technology will help ensure the continued production of reliable electricity and create new, well-paid jobs in Wyoming.“, said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower.
The company will build a fast sodium-cooled reactor using molten salt instead of water. The mini-plant will have an energy storage system. The demonstration reactor will produce 345 megawatts of power, which is enough to serve about 250,000 homes. When needed, the storage system can temporarily increase capacity to 500 megawatts, enough for 400,000 homes.
The new nuclear reactor is characterized by small size and high level of safety.
For now, there are only two soda reactors in operation in the world, using a similar principle. These are the Soviet blocs created at the Beloyarsk NPP in Russia in the 1980s.
Soda reactors are safer because of the lower pressure than water-cooled units. On the other hand, at this moment an obstacle to their mass imposition is dealing with their chemical activity.
The Department of Energy plans to invest a total of $ 3.2 billion over a seven-year period to make the concepts a reality by 2028, with funds provided by industry partners.
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