Wyoming has always been coal country. You see the massive draglines and the long trains snaking across the high desert, and it's just part of the DNA here. But things are shifting. Fast. Right now, a small town called Kemmerer is becoming the epicenter of a massive experiment that could change how the entire world gets its electricity. It’s the site of the first Wyoming nuclear power plant, specifically the Natrium project led by TerraPower.
Bill Gates founded TerraPower back in 2006, but for years, it felt like a "someday" project. Then the federal government stepped in with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and suddenly, the dirt started moving. This isn't your grandfather’s nuclear plant with the massive concrete cooling towers you've seen in old movies. It’s something different.
What is the Natrium Project anyway?
Most people hear "nuclear" and think of Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. That's understandable. But the tech being deployed in Wyoming is a "non-light water" reactor. Instead of using water to cool the core, it uses liquid sodium.
Why sodium? Well, it’s a better heat conductor than water. It also stays liquid at much higher temperatures, which means the system doesn't have to be kept under immense pressure. That’s a huge safety feature. If the power goes out, the sodium just keeps absorbing heat through natural circulation. No pumps required. No "meltdown" in the traditional sense. Honestly, it’s kinda brilliant from an engineering standpoint.
The project is a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor. It also features a molten salt energy storage system. This is the secret sauce. Because wind and solar are fickle, you need a way to store energy. The Natrium plant can ramp up its output to 500 megawatts for over five hours when the grid needs it most. That’s enough to power roughly 400,000 homes.
Why Kemmerer? It’s about the workers.
Choosing Kemmerer wasn't random. There’s a coal-fired plant there called the Naughton Power Plant that’s scheduled to retire. Pacificorp, the utility that owns Naughton, is a partner in this.
You've got a ready-made workforce. These are folks who know how to handle high-voltage equipment, turbines, and complex industrial systems. Instead of leaving a town in the lurch when the coal plant closes, TerraPower is basically dropping a brand-new industry right on top of the old one. It uses the existing transmission lines. It keeps the tax base stable. It's a "just transition" that actually looks like it might work.
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Chris Levesque, the CEO of TerraPower, has been pretty vocal about this. He’s noted that they’re not just building a reactor; they’re building a supply chain. During peak construction, we're talking about 1,600 jobs. Once it’s running, it’ll need about 250 full-time people. For a town of roughly 2,400 residents, that’s everything.
The Hurdles: It’s not all sunshine and rainbows
Don't let the PR fool you; this is incredibly hard to pull off. The biggest headache right now? Fuel.
These advanced reactors need something called HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium). Normal reactors use uranium enriched to about 5%. HALEU is enriched between 5% and 20%. Before the war in Ukraine, the only commercial supplier of this stuff was Russia.
That obviously became a massive problem.
The project has already faced delays because of the fuel supply chain. Originally, the goal was to be online by 2028. Now, we're looking closer to 2030. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is scrambling to jumpstart domestic HALEU production, but you can’t just build a centrifuge plant overnight. It takes years and billions of dollars.
Then there's the cost. The federal government is footing about half the bill, but the total price tag is estimated around $4 billion. Nuclear is notoriously expensive to build, even if it's cheap to run once the capital costs are paid off.
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Is it actually "Clean"?
This is where the debate gets heated. Nuclear doesn't emit CO2 during operation. If Wyoming wants to keep its "Energy State" title while the world demands lower carbon footprints, this is the play.
But there’s the waste.
Spent nuclear fuel is a reality. The Natrium reactor produces less waste than older models, but it's still radioactive. Currently, the plan is the same as it is for every other plant in the U.S.: store it on-site in dry casks until the federal government figures out a permanent geological repository. Since Yucca Mountain is effectively dead, that waste isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Some environmental groups are also wary of the sodium. Liquid sodium reacts violently with water and air. If there’s a leak, it’s a big deal. TerraPower says they’ve designed around this with multiple layers of containment, but critics like the Union of Concerned Scientists have raised points about the inherent risks of "fast" reactors. It's a trade-off. Do you want the carbon from coal or the long-term storage requirements of nuclear? Wyoming has decided to try the latter.
The Global Stakes
The world is watching this Wyoming nuclear power plant very closely. If it works, it becomes a blueprint.
Countries like Poland, Romania, and even South Korea are looking at Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to replace their aging coal fleets. If the Kemmerer project proves that you can build these on time and on (relative) budget, it opens the floodgates for a nuclear renaissance. If it fails or the costs spiral out of control, it might be the final nail in the coffin for new nuclear in the West.
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Governor Mark Gordon has been a huge proponent. He sees it as a survival strategy for the state. Wyoming has plenty of uranium in the ground—in fact, it’s the leading producer in the U.S. By building the reactor here, the state creates a "mine-to-megawatt" economy.
Real-world impact on the ground
Go to Kemmerer today and the vibe is mixed. Some people are excited about the property values and the new life in the town. Others are worried about the "boom and bust" cycle that has defined Wyoming for a century. They've seen it with oil. They've seen it with gas.
But there's a sense of pride, too. Wyoming is finally being seen as a leader in high-tech energy, not just a "resource colony" for the rest of the country.
The construction site is already active. They started with the non-nuclear buildings first—the stuff that doesn't require a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) permit. This "build as you go" approach is meant to shave years off the timeline. They’re literally pouring the foundation for the future of the grid while the regulators are still reviewing the reactor's final safety analysis. It’s a bold move.
What you should keep an eye on
If you're following the progress of the Wyoming nuclear power plant, here are the specific milestones that actually matter:
- NRC Permit Approval: Watch for the Construction Permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Without this, the reactor core can't be built.
- HALEU Production: Keep tabs on Centrus Energy and other domestic fuel projects. If they don't hit their targets, Kemmerer doesn't have fuel.
- Local Infrastructure: Kemmerer needs housing, schools, and roads to support 1,600 workers. How the town handles this "growth spurt" will be a major indicator of the project's social success.
- Cost Overruns: Large-scale energy projects are famous for going over budget. If the $4 billion mark starts creeping toward $6 or $7 billion, expect political pushback.
The Natrium project isn't just a power plant. It's a test case for whether the United States can still build big, complex things. It’s a test for whether coal country can become nuclear country. Most importantly, it’s a look at what the 21st-century energy grid might actually look like—if we can get the fuel and the physics to play nice together.
Actionable Next Steps for Residents and Investors
- For Job Seekers: Monitor the TerraPower and Bechtel (the lead contractor) career portals. They are prioritizing local hires and those with experience in heavy industry or traditional power plant operations.
- For Property Owners: Understand that the "construction boom" phase is temporary. The long-term economic stability comes from the 250 permanent operational roles, not the 1,600 temporary construction workers.
- For Energy Watchers: Follow the DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) reports. These provide the most technical and up-to-date progress on advanced reactor deployments in the U.S.
- For Residents: Attend the NRC public meetings. These are the best places to voice concerns about safety, water usage, and emergency planning directly to federal regulators.
Ultimately, the Kemmerer project is a gamble, but it's a calculated one. It leverages what Wyoming already has—space, uranium, and a skilled workforce—to try and solve a problem the whole world is struggling with. It’s a massive undertaking that will define the state’s economy for the next fifty years.