Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are building a new, small nuclear power plant in a town in Wyoming to help replace coal-fired plants.
According to USA TODAY, TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company founded by Bill Gates, will build the $4 billion, 345-megawatt facility at the Naughton Power Plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, once it has been federally and locally approved. TerraPower is partnering with GE-Hitachi to build the plant, which could be running within seven years. The plant would operate for 60 years, company officials said.
The plant will produce enough power to service roughly 250,000 homes, with the capacity to provide 500 megawatts during its peak.
“The Natrium reactor is the future of nuclear energy in America. It makes perfect sense to have it in Wyoming, the energy capital of the United States,” said U.S. Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming republican, to USA TODAY.
Looking at renewable energy development costs compared to this nuclear facility. American Wind Power Assoc. estimates a development budget for wind farms of $1M per megawatt. Solar farms are slightly higher in cost per MW. This plant is 10X more costly than either.