Washington — Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Sunday that he is “confident” in that next generation nuclear energy The project will proceed regardless of the balance of power in Washington next year, saying that “support for nuclear power in both parties is very impressive.”
Gates and his energy company TerraPower are leading a major project that broke ground last week in Kemmerer, Wyoming — a nuclear power plant that relies on sodium cooling instead of water, which is billed as both a simplified process and safer, and could make it safer. making nuclear energy a cheap source of electricity. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium.
The project is on track to start producing energy by 2030, and marks the first time in decades that a company has attempted to build the reactors as part of the U.S. commercial energy supply. Nuclear power plants without emitting climate-changing greenhouse gases. The site of the new plant is adjacent to the Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, according to The Associated Press.
Gates touted that “nuclear energy has benefits beyond climate,” which he said has led to bipartisan support. While Democrats see value in the clean energy source, Republicans may show interest in energy security, he said.
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“Of all the climate-related work that I do, I would say the work that has the most bipartisan energy behind it is actually this nuclear work,” Gates said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
For some, the value may lie in American leadership and competitiveness in this area, Gates said.
“You really don’t want the nuclear reactors around the world made by our adversaries because it’s a huge job creator economically,” Gates said. “And because the materials involved in these reactors could potentially be diverted, you want to make sure that this isn’t diverted for some kind of military-related activity. And so there are a lot of strategic advantages to American leadership in this area.”
Gates said China is the country building the most nuclear reactors, but if the US tapped into its “innovation power” the country could be competitive.
“When we unleash the innovation power of this country, we tend to be at the forefront,” he said. “I feel great about the support we are receiving from the federal government in this nuclear area to leverage our history of excellence and solve the problem that our current reactors are simply far too expensive. And so let’s make the changes, you know. be prepared to outmaneuver our foreign competitors to maintain that lead.”
One problem the project initially faced was that the uranium fuel would have to come from Russia. Gates noted that the project was postponed from 2028 to 2030 due to fuel supply issues, with Russia’s war against Ukraine changing the calculus. But suppliers in the UK and South Africa, along with possible supplies from uranium mines in the US and Canada, will ensure the project can go ahead, he said.
“We can go to the free world and meet our fuel needs,” Gates said. “And now that we’re building the alternative plan, with the federal government helping us figure that out, that’s now fully in place.”
