Bill Gates is willing to invest billions of dollars in the startup’s nuclear plant
Bill Gates said he is prepared to invest billions of dollars in a next-generation nuclear power plant project in Wyoming to meet America’s growing electricity demand.
TerraPower LLC, a startup founded by Gates, broke ground on its first commercial reactor last week in Wyoming, where a coal plant is about to close, said its billionaire co-founder. Microsoft Corp. said on CBS Face the nation. TerraPower has been exploring simpler, cheaper reactors since 2008 and expects to complete the new reactor by 2030.
“I have invested more than a billion dollars and I will invest billions more,” said Gates, the world’s sixth-richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
TerraPower’s plant, which is backed by the US Department of Energy, was originally expected to be operational in 2028. But that would mean having to rely on fuel from Russia, which is “unacceptable today”. ”, Gates said on CNN. Fareed Zakaria GPS.
The reactor design uses liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water and includes molten salt that can store heat to increase output. Gates said TerraPower plans to source reactor fuel from the United States and its allies.
“Coal is being overtaken by natural gas,” Gates told CNN. “And so what we have to do is compete effectively with natural gas.”
Carbon-free nuclear power is increasingly seen as an important part of fighting climate change, and a growing number of companies are pushing for smaller reactors. Last year, 25 countries at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai announced their ambition to triple nuclear capacity, according to BloombergNEF.
