Something big is happening in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and all due to Bill Gates. The man, who is a brilliant technological entrepreneur and the founder of Microsoft is going to build a nuclear facility which he described as the most sophisticated in the world in this small town. You are right; there will be a state-of-the-art nuclear power plant in a town, which could easily fit into a football stadium.
The Natrium Plant: It is proposed that Increasing Renewable Energy will be a game-changer in the energy sector.
It is not just any nuclear plant. TerraPower, the company owned by Gates, is currently constructing the first of these categorized Natrium plants, which are stated to be safer, cheaper and efficient than the conventional nuclear power plants most of us are aware of.Â
This project is symbolic for the access of clean, zero-carbon energy to be the future of the world. Kemmerer, a town famous for coal plants, is shifting its focus to the development of advanced nuclear systems.
It is expected that in the next five years the new plant will be able to generate employment for approximately 1,600 skilled workers and this is good news for any economy. The siting of a nuclear power plant in a sleepy town brings new businesses, housing developments, and much more.
Kemmerer Economy gets a boost
Well, that is a great transition for a town that has been depending on coal for as long as it has. As Gates himself said, it is a $20 billion investment that would revolutionize not only the regional economy but also America’s quest for energy independence and the global war on climate change.
Gates isn’t just concentrating on transforming how power is produced in Kemmerer. He acknowledges this as the starting point of a much broader shift in the energy evolution of the U.S and other countries. The Natrium plant which is to be constructed by TerraPower, a company that he started in 2008 is set to begin operations in 2030. It’s not far off and it is a date that many people will be putting in their calendar.
The TerraPower Project: Advantages over Traditional Nuclear Plants
One of the main reasons why Kemmerer’s TerraPower project is so unique is the fact that it is technologically superior to the previously operated mining sites and significantly cheaper. If you’re wondering how it compares to other nuclear projects, here’s a fun fact: Georgia’s Plant Vogtle, which recently went from two to four reactors, cost almost $35 billion, $11 billion of which were cost overruns. On the other hand, the Terrapower project is supposed to be at a cost of up to four billion dollars, where DOE- U.S. Department of Energy is to contribute fifty percent of the funding.
Beyond Nuclear: Gates’ Bigger Picture of a Better Environment
But Bill Gates is not restricting himself to nuclear power alone. BEV has just closed its third climate fund, BEV III, with $839 million in commitments to back start-up energy companies. Unsurprisingly, he’s not the only one doing this – Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Richard Branson are among the other players backing this. The establishment of this new fund is also within Gates’ broader strategy of creating funds that can support emerging technologies that the foundation believes can soon significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. The focus areas? Even we talk about generation and distribution of electricity, transport sector, manufacturing industries, structures, food processing and agriculture itself.Â
