US: 345 MW nuclear reactor to get fast-track construction permit

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is expediting its review of TerraPower’s construction license application for the Natrium advanced nuclear reactor project, aiming to complete the safety and environmental evaluation by the end of 2025—eight months earlier than the previously scheduled August 2026. This project, backed by Bill Gates, represents the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States and involves building a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system in Kemmerer, Wyoming, on a retiring coal plant site. The storage technology can boost output to 500 MW when needed, and the plant is expected to be operational by 2031. The accelerated timeline is attributed to frequent collaboration between the NRC and TerraPower, though it depends on TerraPower’s timely resolution of outstanding issues. TerraPower was the first to submit a construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor in March 2024. The NRC has already shortened the review