NRC issues final environmental approval for TerraPower’s SMR

TerraPower announced that the final environmental impact statement for its Natrium small modular reactor has been completed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"The Natrium plant in Wyoming, Kemmerer Unit 1, is now the first advanced reactor technology to successfully complete an environmental impact statement for the NRC, bringing us another step closer to delivering America's next nuclear power plant," said TerraPower president and CEO Chris Levesque.

The plant received its draft EIS approval from the NRC in June.

Up next: The next step in the construction permit process is the final safety evaluation, which TerraPower expects to receive by December 31, 2025. The Bellevue, Wash.−based company founded by Bill Gates was the first to submit a construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor.

The Natrium technology features a 345-MWe sodium-cooled reactor with a molten salt−based energy storage system that can boost the system's power output to 500 MWe. It is being built through a partnership between TerraPower and the Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.