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Bill Gates' nuclear power company selects a site for its first reactor
On Tuesday, TerraPower, the US-based nuclear power company backed by Bill Gates, announced it has chosen a site for what would be its first reactor. Kemmerer, Wyoming, population roughly 2,500, has been the site of the coal-fired Naughton Power Plant, which is being closed. The TerraPower project will see it replaced by a 345 megawatt reactor that would pioneer a number of technologies that haven't been commercially deployed before.
These include a reactor design that needs minimal refueling, cooling by liquid sodium, and a molten-salt heat-storage system that will provide the plant with the flexibility needed to better integrate with renewable energy.
While TerraPower is the name clearly attached to the project, plenty of other parties are involved, as well. The company is perhaps best known for being backed by Bill Gates, now chairman of the company board, who has promoted nuclear power as a partial solution for the climate crisis. The company has been selected by the US Department of Energy to build a demonstration reactor, a designation that guarantees at least $180 million toward construction and could see it receive billions of dollars over the next several years.
Also at Ars Technica.
Previously: Bill Gates & Warren Buffet to Build Nation's First Natrium Reactor in Wyoming
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday November 23 2021, @05:41PM (2 children)
Oh, just keep the whole thing in a double-walled pressure cylinder with pure chlorine gas in the middle layer- if the sodium gets out of hand we'll just have some radioactive salts (water soluble to boot, hello water table!) What could possibly go wrong?
Sadly, Gates may have the connections (appropriate bribes paid in advance) to slice through the red tape, and I bet the venue was chosen in part because of the economical nature of the local regulation costs.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday November 23 2021, @06:08PM (1 child)
Oh, that sounds even safer! And glowing blue salt is sure to be a hit in the gourmet market!!
Yeah, good bet they plan to take advantage of Wyoming's relatively streamlined regulations, but won't help 'em with federal regs. But as you say, a campaign contribution here and there, and those problems go away.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday November 23 2021, @07:06PM
An IP attorney and I were onboarded at a Texas company on the same day in 2003. Little did I know at the time, said atty was the campaign treasurer of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. He thought he and I would be working together drafting and submitting patents. Little did he know, he would spend the next 18 months lobbying his buddy Tom virtually non-stop, ultimately resulting in some kind of unpleasant pressure being brought to bear on the FDA - coercing them to approve our new indication for use, but not stopping them from publicly squealing like a kicked dog over the move. Said squeal was all the excuse the insurance carriers needed to deny coverage for the new indication, but the CEO's golden parachute clause didn't say anything about getting insurance reimbursement, only FDA approval so he took a $5M exit a few months later.
It really happens.
🌻🌻 [google.com]