NRC Approves Construction of Natrium Advanced Reactor in Wyoming

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Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

In its first such action in nearly a decade, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the construction of TerraPower's Natrium advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming.

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Construction Approval

In its first construction approval for a commercial nuclear power project since 2018, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given the green light for TerraPower to construct one of its Natrium advanced reactors at the site of a coal-fired power plant that is being converted to natural gas in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in the west of the state, about 30 miles from the Utah border.

Natrium Reactor

The Natrium reactor is touted as an "advanced" sodium-cooled reactor, making it the first non-light-water reactor design approval in more than 40 years. The reactor features a unique energy storage capability employing molten salt that can boost the unit's output from a baseline 345 megawatts (MW) to up to 500 MW for more than five hours.

Kemmerer Site & Approval Process

The facility will be able to take advantage of existing infrastructure at a nearby 380-MW coal-fired power plant that is being converted to burn natural gas--a project expected to be completed later this year.

TerraPower officially zeroed in on the Kemmerer site in 2021 and after years of preparation, submitted its construction permit application to the NRC in March 2024. At the time, the NRC aimed to complete the review by August of this year.

Making swifter-than-expected progress on its review of the project, the NRC bumped the expected decision date to the end of 2025--a goal it ultimately missed, but resulting in this week's decision to grant the construction permit, well ahead of its initial timeline. During this time, the NRC released a positive final environmental impact statement for the project in late October.

The site still lacks an operating license, which will enable the reactor to load fuel and begin generating power. That will come later in the process, but for now, construction can begin.

And TerraPower intends to begin construction soon--"in the coming weeks," according to TerraPower Chief Executive Officer Chris Levesque. The company hopes to have the Wyoming plant generating power sometime in 2030.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on TerraPower's Natrium project and the natural gas-conversion project led by PacifiCorp.

High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium

The Natrium reactor comes with a catch--one that has previously hindered its construction timeline. Unlike most U.S. reactors that use low-enriched uranium (LEU), the Natrium reactor employs high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which until 2022 the U.S. sourced almost exclusively from Russia. After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. began reducing its reliance on Russian nuclear fuel, aiming to phase it out of the U.S. nuclear mix by 2028. TerraPower's plans for its initial Natrium deployment hit a roadblock when the company had to begin seeking alternative sources of HALEU.

The legislation phasing out Russian fuel also led Congress to allocate funds to shore up domestic U.S. fuel supplies, including substantial funds for HALEU development, ultimately leading to the Department of Energy announcing $2.7 billion in funding support for domestic uranium enrichment, allocating the lion's share, $1.8 billion, to two companies developing HALEU production in the U.S. For more information, see January 7, 2026, article - DOE Awards $2.7 Billion to Uranium-Enrichment Companies. Only one plant in Ohio currently produces HALEU in very limited quantities.

Eight-Year Construction Permitting Break

While the NRC has approved construction of a handful of reactors in the past few years, these have all been for small, pilot-scale projects.

That permission came in the form of a combined construction and operating license (COL), which would have facilitated operations of the reactors NextEra Energy was considering constructing at its Turkey Point nuclear power station on the outskirts of Homestead, Florida, near Miami. The plant currently has two Westinghouse AP-1000 nuclear reactors (units 3 and 4) as well as a combined-cycle natural gas-fired unit (Unit 5).

The NRC issued its COL for two nuclear units (units 6 and 7) at Turkey Point in 2018, but NextEra placed the plans on hold and presently has no active timeline to deploy either one or both reactors. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

The permit for a non-light-water reactor is also a milestone, as the last such reactor to be approved was a helium-cooled unit at the Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station in Colorado, which provided power from 1979 until operating issues led to its retirement in 1989, marking the end of Colorado's first and only entry into the nuclear power sector to date.

Key Takeaways

• The NRC has issued the construction permit for TerraPower's Natrium advanced nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
• The reactor is a 345-MW sodium-cooled reactor that uses molten-salt-based technology for energy storage, allowing it to operate at 500 MW for more than five hours.
• The permit is the first construction permit for a commercial-scale reactor that the NRC has issued since 2018, and the Natrium reactor is the first non-light-water reactor to receive construction approval from the agency for more than 40 years.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).