Southern Co. agreed to design and build an advanced nuclear demonstration reactor using technology developed by TerraPower LLC., A company backed by Bill Gates.
Southern plans to build the molten chloride reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a statement issued Thursday. The US Department of Energy is awarding a grant to cover 80% of the $ 170 million project, with the remainder coming from Southern, TerraPower and others.
Southern and TerraPower are part of a growing wave of companies looking to build smaller reactors, which are expected to be faster and cheaper to build than conventional nuclear plants.
The demonstration system will have less than 500 kilowatts of capacity and is expected to enter service in 2026, according to Lauren Lathem, Southern’s program manager. A commercial version can reach 720 megawatts of capacity.
The reactor will use molten chloride technology from TerraPower, which operates at higher temperatures than conventional reactors, making it more efficient than water-cooled nuclear plants in common use today.
It’s a different design than the Natrium liquid sodium reactor that TerraPower plans to build in Wyoming for PacifiCorp.
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
