Officials turned dirt during the ceremonial groundbreaking of the TerraPower Natrium Nuclear Power Plant in Kemmerer. From left to right: Brian Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors, DOE; Craig Albert, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bechtel Group; Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon; Bill Gates, President and Founder of TerraPower; Chris Levesque, CEO TerraPower; Cindy Crane, CEO of Pacificorp; Dick Garlish, President of Rocky Mountain Power. SVI PHOTO/DUKE DANCE

Governor:“Nuclear power factors significantly into our nation’s energy independence plans.”

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Today Governor Mark Gordon returned to the site in Kemmerer, Wyoming where TerraPower is building its Natrium Plant for a progress briefing and tour from Eric Williams, TerraPower’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Andy Chrusciel, Director of Construction. The Governor was on hand for the ground-breaking of the project last June. He continues to be supportive of the expansion of Wyoming’s energy portfolio in the nuclear energy space.

“Not surprisingly, TerraPower chose the energy capital of the nation to build their first Natrium plant, Kemmerer Unit 1. If you’re going to produce energy, it’s very likely you’re doing it in Wyoming,” Governor Gordon said, “With the President’s energy emergency declaration and dedication to Unleashing American Energy, nuclear power factors significantly into our plans as a nation for energy independence, abundance and strengthening national security. Wyoming and TerraPower are readying to meet demand.”

According to TerraPower, the Natrium plant is an  innovative design that will function on the energy grid in a completely new way, unlike any existing nuclear technologies today.” The plant will feature an advanced, sodium-cooled reactor and molten salt energy storage tanks, providing up to 500 MWe of power.

“It was wonderful to show Governor Gordon all the progress that has been made onsite over the past year,” said Eric Williams. “He’s been a key supporter of the project since we first expressed interest in bringing a Natrium plant to Wyoming, and we couldn’t be happier with the decision to build our first project here. Our team is working around the clock to bring America’s next nuclear power plant to Wyoming.”

The Natrium project was announced nearly four years ago and was aided when the  Wyoming legislature expanded existing legislation to allow advanced nuclear reactors that provide more than 300 MWe of power to be a part of Wyoming’s energy supply.

Construction on the project began last June and continued through the winter months. The work currently being completed is on the sodium test and fill facility, which is crucial for testing key reactor components.

“It’s great to see the progress here today,” the Governor said. “In addition to TerraPower’s efforts to support reestablishing a domestic nuclear supply chain, they have clearly been focused on moving forward without delay on constructing the facilities.”

Work is scheduled to begin next month on the Kemmerer Training Center, which will serve as the primary training location for future Natrium operators, and will be followed by construction of the energy island portion of the plant.