TerraPower has announced plans to build up to 12 sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) of its ‘Natrium™’ design. The first Natrium™ plant, currently under construction in Wyoming, remains on schedule to begin operation around 2030. The company is expanding its small modular reactor (SMR) business through partnerships with data center operators and securing private investments from firms like SK and HD Hyundai.
According to foreign media outlets including Grikwire on the 26th, Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, stated at an event hosted by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce on the 20th, “Our goal is to produce electricity in Wyoming by 2030, and we are currently on track to meet that timeline.” He added, “By around that time (2030), an additional 10 to 12 reactors will likely be under construction.”
TerraPower broke ground in June last year on a 345 MWe Natrium™ reactor at a site near a coal-fired power plant in Wyoming. Earlier this year, the company received construction permits for non-nuclear facilities from Wyoming’s Industrial Siting Council (ISC). Permits for nuclear facilities are still under review. TerraPower submitted its application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March last year and expects approval by December 2026.
CEO Levesque cited government support as a key factor in TerraPower’s progress. The company has received approximately $2 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of its advanced reactor demonstration program. Levesque emphasized, “Government support is essential for new nuclear development. We are competing against Russia and China, which are aggressively pushing their own technologies in this market.”
The surge in power demand from hyperscale data centers also presents an opportunity for TerraPower. Earlier this year, the company formed a partnership with Sabey Data Centers (SDC), one of the largest data center developers in the U.S., to build Natrium™ plants near data center sites and supply them with power.
While collaborating with data center companies, TerraPower continues to seek support from both government and private sectors to avoid over-reliance on any single industry. In 2022, the company secured $250 million in investments from SK Inc. and SK Innovation, followed by an additional $30 million from HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, an intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai. These investments have strengthened TerraPower’s financial standing, setting it apart from competitors.
Beyond financial risks, Levesque identified tariffs on imported nuclear materials, weak supply chains, and a shortage of skilled labor as obstacles to commercialization. He added, “We need skilled workers with two- or four-year degrees in engineering.”
