Photo credit: National Regulatory Commission

Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and TerraPower met on Monday, March 9 to officially sign the construction permit issued for the Natrium plant, Kemmerer Unit 1. The NRC announced last week on March 4 that they had awarded TerraPower the first permit ever given to a commercial-scale, advanced nuclear power.

“I want to take a moment to recognize Lincoln County and the State of Wyoming,” said Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, during comments made after the signing. “This region has powered America for generations, from coal mines to power plants. And today is helping lead the transition to the next generation of energy infrastructure. This is a state that knows how to get projects done and we’re thrilled to be working in Wyoming.”

When speaking of the application process, Levesque noted the in-depth work by both TerraPower and the NRC. “In addition to the application itself, the TerraPower team submitted six whitepapers and completed 15 topical reports,” he explained. “We spent thousands of hours over the last two years engaging with the NRC staff and diligently working through the application process as experts across the NRC carefully evaluated the design, safety analysis, environmental impacts and technical documentation associated with the project.”

“This is a historic moment for nuclear energy,” said NRC Chairman Ho Nieh. “I’m going to confidently say that the NRC will not be an impediment to nuclear innovation in America.”

Construction on the Natrium plant is expected to begin right away. “We’re now ready with all regulatory approvals to move inside the power plant perimeter and start construction on both the nuclear island and the energy island,” said Levesque. “The next time you drive by you’ll see significant earthwork starting inside the power plant footprint.”

Levesque reminded that the current structure being built south of Kemmerer is the Test and Fill Facility, which is not part of the nuclear reactor but will be used to fill the nuclear reactor with sodium and for testing components. According to Levesque, the Test and Fill Facility will not be necessary at all future TerraPower nuclear sites.