Bill Gates-backed TerraPower became the first company in the nation to receive federal approval to build its next-generation nuclear power plant when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its unanimous decision Wednesday, clearing the way for rapid expansion of smaller, faster-to-build reactors.
TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque had been expecting the NRC’s approval, telling reporters in January that the permits would put the company “a year ahead of anyone else” pursuing new nuclear in the U.S. “Our team has worked relentlessly for over 4 years with the NRC staff to get to this moment,” Levesque said in a statement. “We had extensive pre-application engagement with the NRC; and we submitted a robust and thorough construction permit application almost 2 years ago. We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment.”
After being largely mothballed for decades, America’s nuclear sector has accelerated as tech giants scramble to power data centers nationwide and energy demands spike for commercial, residential and industrial uses. TerraPower’s approval unlocks additional nuclear facilities on short timelines. In January, the company signed a deal with Meta to build up to eight advanced reactors in the U.S. with the first two coming online as soon as 2032. If the full order is fulfilled, all reactors aim to be operational by 2035.
The company also has memorandums of understanding with government departments in Utah and Kansas to explore potential siting of Natrium reactors in those states. “We plan to build hundreds of Natrium reactors,” Levesque said. “We’re very focused on delivering the first one on time,” he added, then quickly scaling production.
Bellevue-based TerraPower is engineering a new model of smaller, less expensive nuclear reactors that can be produced in three years from fabricated components instead of the past approach of constructing giant, one-off structures that take a decade to erect. The company broke ground on a demonstration plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in 2024, starting with construction of non-nuclear components. The goal is to start splitting atoms there by the end of 2030.
Approval of the application to build a nuclear reactor was granted in 18 months, much faster than the initial estimate of a 27-month review. TerraPower credits federal support of the sector as well as the company’s responsiveness to NRC questions and efforts by NRC staff for the quicker turnaround. National leaders have pushed for federal oversight changes to speed deployment of new reactors, including passage of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act during the Biden administration and executive orders issued by President Trump.
