Wyoming Kicks Off Nuclear Renaissance as TerraPower Begins Construction on Advanced Reactor

TerraPower, the nuclear energy company founded by Bill Gates, has begun full-scale construction on a first-of-its-kind sodium-cooled fast reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, following final approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2026. The Natrium reactor project marks one of only four reactors to break ground in the United States this century and represents a major test of whether advanced nuclear technology can scale beyond the demonstration phase.

The Details

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted TerraPower its construction license in March 2026, clearing the way for full-scale work to begin at the Kemmerer site in early May, according to NPR and Wyoming Public Media. Years of site preparation and the construction of a testing facility preceded the current phase.

The reactor uses liquid sodium metal instead of water as a coolant. TerraPower says the design is safer, more efficient, and produces less radioactive waste than conventional nuclear plants, NPR reported. The Natrium designation refers to the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) technology at the project's core.

The plant is expected to come online by 2031, according to NPR and Wyoming Public Media. Once operational, it is projected to generate enough electricity to power approximately 450,000 to 500,000 homes, with Rocky Mountain Power expected to serve as the delivery vehicle to nearby Salt Lake City.

The project is backed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which provided approximately $2 billion in cost-share funding — roughly half the total construction cost, NPR reported. That federal support originated during the first Trump administration and continued under Biden.

For Kemmerer, a western Wyoming town that competed against numerous other communities to win the TerraPower siting bid, the project represents a deliberate pivot away from fossil fuels. The old Naughton coal-fired power plant near the site is being converted to natural gas rather than fully decommissioned, preserving roughly 100 jobs, according to NPR.

TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque told Wyoming Public Media that initial uranium processing for the Kemmerer reactor will be handled at a facility in South Africa, citing insufficient domestic processing capacity as the reason. The company has separately signed agreements with Meta to supply additional reactors to power the tech company's data centers, according to NPR.

Brian Muir, Kemmerer's city administrator, said the community came prepared for the transition. "When Bill Gates came here, he talked about our high energy IQ. We know about all forms of energy and the benefits and the costs and the risks and the footprints and all of that, we understand that," Muir told NPR.

Context

The Kemmerer project reflects a broader shift in public attitudes toward nuclear power, at least in some communities. TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque described the change to NPR: "There is a whole different story to begin with, is communities vying for a nuclear power plant. The old story on nuclear was more of a 'not in my backyard thing.'"

Nuclear energy currently provides roughly one-fifth of all U.S. electricity, according to NPR. The Kemmerer reactor is one of only four nuclear facilities to begin construction in the United States this century — a figure that underscores how rare new builds remain even as political and industry interest revives.

Demand for clean, reliable baseload power is intensifying. The International Energy Agency projects U.S. data centers will need approximately 130% more energy by 2030, driven by growth in artificial intelligence infrastructure, NPR reported. That pressure is accelerating investment from both the federal government and technology companies in nuclear as a long-term power source.

The momentum is spreading beyond Wyoming. Utah Governor Spencer Cox recently unveiled an application for a DOE "nuclear hub" — a nuclear life cycle innovation campus covering fuel enrichment, recycling, and waste storage — sited roughly 10 miles from the Great Salt Lake, according to NPR. Cox framed the effort in direct terms: "If you are serious about energy abundance, you have to be serious about nuclear energy. This should not be controversial. America built the nuclear industry."

Not everyone is supportive. Environmental groups including HEAL Utah have raised concerns about radioactive waste storage, contamination legacies from uranium mining in Native communities, and the risk of siting nuclear facilities near the shrinking Great Salt Lake, NPR reported. Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of the Healthy Environment Alliance Utah, also questioned the financial exposure: "Bill Gates is paying for this first one, we as taxpayers are also paying for this first one, I will say. But what about the next one and the next one? How much are we going to be on the hook for as taxpayers, as rate payers, as we go down this path?"

What's Next

TerraPower's construction timeline targets a 2031 commercial launch, according to NPR and Wyoming Public Media. That schedule depends on resolving supply chain gaps — including the current reliance on South African uranium processing — as domestic enrichment and fuel fabrication capacity comes online.

Utah Governor Cox's application for a federal nuclear hub, if approved by the DOE, could eventually provide regional infrastructure for fuel enrichment and waste management that would support future reactor projects beyond Kemmerer. The application, announced alongside the Kemmerer construction news, is in its early stages, according to NPR.

TerraPower's agreements with Meta signal that the company is already pursuing commercial deployments beyond the ARDP demonstration. Whether those future projects receive comparable levels of federal cost-sharing — and how regulators and communities respond — will determine whether the Kemmerer model becomes a template or remains an outlier.