Friday Invoice Gates visited Kemmerer, Wyoming (inhabitants: 2,656) — the place a coal plant was shutting down after 50 years. However Gates was there “to have fun the newest step in a mission that is been greater than 15 years within the making: designing and constructing a next-generation nuclear energy plant…”
The brand new plant will make use of “between 200 and 250 individuals,” Gates writes in a weblog submit, “and people with expertise within the coal plant will have the ability to do lots of the jobs — comparable to working a turbine and sustaining connections to the ability grid — with out a lot retraining.”
It is known as the Natrium plant, and it was designed by TerraPower, an organization I began in 2008. When it opens (doubtlessly in 2030), it will likely be probably the most superior nuclear facility on this planet, and it will likely be a lot safer and produce far much less waste than standard reactors.
All of this issues as a result of the world must make an enormous guess on nuclear. As I wrote in my e book Methods to Keep away from a Local weather Catastrophe , we’d like nuclear energy if we will meet the world’s rising want for vitality whereas additionally eliminating carbon emissions. Not one of the different clear sources are as dependable, and not one of the different dependable sources are as clear…
One other factor that units TerraPower aside is its digital design course of. Utilizing supercomputers, they’ve digitally examined the Natrium design numerous occasions, simulating each possible catastrophe, and it retains holding up. TerraPower’s refined work has drawn curiosity from across the globe, together with an settlement to collaborate on nuclear energy expertise in Japan and investments from the South Korean conglomerate SK and the multinational metal firm ArcelorMittal…
I am enthusiastic about this mission due to what it means for the long run. It is the sort of effort that may assist America keep its vitality independence. And it’ll assist our nation stay a frontrunner in vitality innovation worldwide. The individuals of Kemmerer are on the forefront of the equitable transition to a clear, protected vitality future, and it is nice to be partnering with them.
Gates writes that for security the plant makes use of liquid sodium (as an alternative of water) to soak up extra warmth, and it even has an vitality storage system “to regulate how a lot electrical energy it produces at any given time…”
“I am satisfied that the power can be a win for the native economic system, America’s vitality independence, and the struggle towards local weather change.
