NRC Greenlights Sodium-Cooled, Molten-Salt Reactor System

Bill Gates-backed TerraPower (Bellevue, Washington) last week received environmental clearance for its planned Natrium reactor in Wyoming from the U.S. Nuclear Power Commission (NRC). Labeled by the company as an "advanced reactor" rather than a small modular reactor (SMR), TerraPower's Natrium reactor features a 345-megawatt (MW) sodium-cooled reactor design, differing from typical water-based reactors, and uses molten salt for thermal energy storage capable of generating up to 500 MW of additional power when needed.