NRC Approves the Natrium® Reactor Construction Permit

The NRC announced today the Commissioners voted to issue the first ever construction permit for an advanced, commercial-scale nuclear power plant.

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company, received notification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the Commissioners have voted to award the first Natrium ¹ plant, Kemmerer Unit 1, with a construction permit. This is the first commercial-scale, advanced nuclear power plant to ever receive this permit.

TerraPower's president and CEO, Chris Levesque, issued the following statement ontoday's milestone.

"Today is a historic day for the United States' nuclear industry. We are beyond proud to receive a positive vote from the Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners to grant us our construction permit for Kemmerer Unit One. This is the first commercial-scale, advanced nuclear plant to receive this permit. 

Our team has worked relentlessly for over 4 years with the NRC staff to get to this moment. We had extensive pre-application engagement with the NRC; and we submitted a robust and thorough construction permit application almost 2 years ago. We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment.

We plan to start construction on the Natrium plant in the coming weeks and look forward to bringing the first Natrium reactor and energy storage system to market in the great state of Wyoming."

TerraPower's regulatory strategy has been built on providing thorough technical content and robust engagement opportunities to discuss the Natrium technology and design with regulators. This includes extensive engagement through both the pre-application and application phases of this permit process.

TerraPower was the first developer to submit a construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor to the NRC in March 2024, it was docketed by the NRC in May 2024. The NRC established an initial 27-month review schedule. In 2025, the review process was streamlined due to TerraPower's complete application, the company's responsiveness to questions, the NRC staff's dedication to the review process, Congressional support with the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act and President Trump's Executive Orders that support nuclear energy. The review was completed in 18 months. 

The Natrium technology is the first-mover in the advanced reactor sector and is well positioned to support rapidly increasing energy demand. The Natrium plant design features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power when needed as it is designed to keep base output steady, ensuring constant reliability, and can quickly ramp up when demand peaks — it is the only advanced reactor design with this unique feature.

The first Natrium plant is being developed through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public-private partnership. That project is expected to be completed in 2030 and will be the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States.

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About TerraPower
TerraPower is a leading nuclear innovation company that strives to improve the world through nuclear energy and science. Since it was founded by Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries, TerraPower has emerged as an incubator and developer of ideas and technologies that offer energy independence, environmental sustainability, medical advancement, and other cutting-edge opportunities. It accepts and tackles some of the world's most difficult challenges. Behind each of its innovations and programs, TerraPower actively works to bring together the strengths and experiences of the world's public and private sectors to answer pressing global needs. Learn more at terrapower.com.

¹ Natrium reactor is a TerraPower and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy technology

SOURCE TerraPower