TerraPower Commences Construction of Utility-Scale Advanced Reactor
TerraPower has officially broken ground on Kemmerer Unit 1 in Wyoming, set to become America’s first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant.
A new chapter for advanced nuclear energy🔧
— TerraPower (@TerraPower) April 23, 2026
We marked the start of construction on our first Natrium® plant, Kemmerer Unit 1. As the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the US, Kemmerer Unit 1 will advance reliable and resilient energy. https://t.co/xaJR0T595c pic.twitter.com/XvpzJqzy03
The April 23 announcement marks the start of full construction on the Natrium reactor, a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor paired with a molten salt-based energy storage system that can ramp output to 500 megawatts for over five hours to handle peak demand.
The project sits near a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, making it Wyoming’s first commercial nuclear generating station. Non-nuclear site preparation began in June 2024 after years of engineering and regulatory hurdles.
The DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program provided public-private backing, with Bechtel handling engineering, procurement and construction, and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy contributing reactor technology.
With commercial operations targeted around 2030, The U.S. may finally get on the board for having a utility scale reactor under construction…
Four months later, China has added 9 more reactors and is now building a total of 39 nuclear power plants. Meanwhile the US has added 0 and is still building 0 https://t.co/TJ6BoMghNk pic.twitter.com/O4idOANNUr
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 15, 2026
As we reported when the NRC granted the construction permit in March, this step represents the start of actual nuclear facility construction. Up until now, all the work at the site has been for the non-nuclear systems. We also covered TerraPower’s agreement with Meta for up to eight Natrium plants by 2035 to support data center power needs.
TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque described the moment as one the industry has been working towards for a generation. “We’re not just breaking new ground on a first-of-a-kind nuclear plant in Wyoming; we’re building the next generation of America’s energy infrastructure.”
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