AP Utah

Bill Gates venture picks Wyoming city for sodium nuke plant

Published November 16, 2021 2:55 PM

By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A small city in the top U.S. coal-mining state of Wyoming will be home to a Bill Gates-backed experimental nuclear power project near a coal-fired power plant scheduled to close soon. Officials with Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower announced Tuesday they will build the Natrium plant in Kemmerer, a southwestern Wyoming city of 2,600 people. A coal-fired power plant operated by PacifiCorp subsidiary Rocky Mountain Power is set to close in Kemmerer in 2025. Proponents of the project featuring a sodium-cooled fast reactor say it would perform better, be safer and cost less than traditional nuclear power. Others are skeptical, saying such reactors aren’t as safe or practical as claimed.

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