Bill Gates says “support for nuclear power is very impressive in both parties” amid new plant in Wyoming

Washington – Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Sunday that he is “pretty confident” that a next generation nuclear energy the project will continue regardless of the balance of power in Washington next year, saying “support for nuclear power is very impressive on both sides.”

Gates and his energy company TerraPower are leading a major project that began in Kemmerer, Wyoming, last week – a nuclear power plant that relies on cooling sodium instead of water, which is considered a simplified and at the same time safer process, and could make nuclear energy a low-cost source of electricity. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor using sodium.

The project is on track to begin producing energy by 2030 and marks the first time in decades that a company has attempted to install the reactors as part of commercial energy in the US. Nuclear energy works without emitting greenhouse gases that cause climate change. The site of the new plant is next to the Naughton Power Station, which is expected to stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, according to The Associated Press.

Gates praised that “nuclear energy has benefits beyond climate,” which he said generated bipartisan support. While Democrats see value in clean energy, Republicans may have an interest in energy security, he said.

“Of all the climate-related work I’m doing, I would say the one that has the most bipartisan energy is actually this nuclear work,” Gates said Sunday on “Face the Nation.”

For some, the value may lie in U.S. leadership and competitiveness on this issue, Gates said.

“You really don’t want the nuclear reactors around the world, made by our adversaries, because it’s economically a huge job creator,” Gates said. “And as the materials involved in these reactors could possibly be diverted, attention must be paid to ensure that they are not fueling any military activity. And so U.S. leadership in this space has many strategic benefits.”

Gates said the country building the largest number of nuclear reactors is China, but if the US taps into its “innovation power,” it could be competitive.

“If we unleash the innovation power of this country, we tend to lead,” he said. “I feel really good about the support we are receiving from the federal government in this nuclear space to build on our history of excellence and solve the problem that our current reactors are too expensive. be willing to innovate more than our foreign competitors, to maintain this leadership.”

One issue the project initially faced was that the uranium fuel would have to come from Russia. Gates noted that the project was delayed from 2028 to 2030 because of fuel supplies, with Russia’s war against Ukraine changing the calculus. But suppliers in the UK and South Africa, along with eventual supply from uranium mines in the US and Canada, will allow the project to move forward, he said.

“We can go to the free world and meet our fuel needs,” Gates said. “And now the construction of the alternative plan, with the federal government helping us figure it out, is now completely in place.”