On 10 June, Bechtel celebrated official groundbreaking at the Natrium nuclear power project. Bechtel is TerraPower’s engineering, procurement, and construction partner on this first-of-a-kind project in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The project is part of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme.
Natrium is an advanced nuclear reactor that uses a sodium-based technology to cool the reactor instead of water, although the use of molten sodium as the coolant is not in itself new. This version of the technology developed by TerraPower is said to provide clean, baseload operation at 345 MW with the capability to flex as high as 500 MW.
Reflecting on the significance of today’s milestone, Craig Albert, Bechtel president and COO, stated: “The Natrium reactor’s innovative design will launch a new approach to nuclear plant construction that is designed to be safer, cleaner, faster, and more efficient than many energy source alternatives.”
“Working together, the combination of advanced technology and streamlined constructability has the potential to diversify the US power generation industry. The option of deploying smaller advanced nuclear plants that can work in concert with other clean energy sources will help speed our progress toward net-zero emissions.”
Mr Albert commended TerraPower on their approach and the significance of the partnership: “TerraPower extended their visionary approach to the building of the plant itself. Their involvement of Bechtel from the very beginning means the entire project lifecycle, including construction, has been optimised at every stage, making the entire process cost-effective, fast, and repeatable.”
As the nexus of TerraPower and GE Hitachi technology, the Natrium design is said to represent a leap forward in clean, sustainable power generation.
In 70 years, Bechtel has designed, built, or provided construction services on 150 nuclear plants worldwide, bringing more than 76 000 MW of new nuclear generation capacity into existence.
