A company founded by Gates has focused on a variety of issues since he reduced his involvement with Microsoft, with energy and climate change being among them, but why nuclear and why now?
The announcement of the new plant comes just a matter of months after Gates released his book How To Avoid A Climate Disaster. In it, Gates explains that the 51 billion tonnes of emissions being produced by humanity a year need to be brought down to zero to limit the worst possible impacts of climate change. It is on this premise that TerraPower is set to build its new reactor.
In an interview on Clubhouse in March, Gates explained that nuclear energy is the only feasible way to ramp up clean energy production at a rate that is anything like as fast as is required, noting also that its dangers are far outweighed by those of fossil fuels. However, he also explained that current nuclear technology is "too complex and way too expensive." Instead, he explained: "We need fourth-generation reactors with no held pressure and where the physics alone says the radioactive material won't leave the site area, using liquid metal sodium for the cooling instead of water."
How Is Gates' New Nuclear Reactor Different?
The TerraPower nuclear reactor planned for Wyoming is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of such new technology. The so-called Natrium reactor (natrium being the Latin word for sodium) is said to be easier, cheaper, and quicker to build, as well as being safer and more reliable to operate.
The plant will feature "a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system." It will also be possible to increase output to 500 MW for stretches of over five and a half hours, which TerraPower says will provide power for around 400,000 homes.
Gates and TerraPower hope that by demonstrating the energy production potential, commercial viability, and safety of the technology others will be encouraged to invest in the new nuclear technology. In this way, it is hoped that the demonstration plant will help contribute to faster decarbonization of electricity generation, a reduction in global emissions, and a limitation of the long-term effects of climate change.
Source: TerraPower