In tiny Wyoming town, Bill Gates bets big on nuclear power

By BRADY McCOMBS and MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press

KEMMERER, Wyoming (AP) — A tiny Wyoming town faces transformation when a company started by Bill Gates builds a new type of nuclear power plant there. Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower plans to launch its Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in the latter part of this decade. The reactor would be cooled by molten sodium instead of water as in conventional nuclear reactors. Locals say the plant could be salvation for their town, where a coal-fired power plant is slated to close in 2025 and a coal mine is in danger of closing. Rocky Mountain Power employee Crystal Bowen says Kemmerer faced becoming a “ghost town” until the nuclear project came along.