Approval revives U.S. licensing pipeline after long pause
The U.S. nuclear regulator on Wednesday approved construction of a Bill Gates-backed TerraPower small nuclear reactor in Wyoming, marking the first green light for a commercial reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in nearly a decade. The project is also the first NRC-approved plant expected to use a higher-assay uranium fuel known as HALEU, a step that brings both potential performance benefits and new supply chain questions.
The approval covers TerraPower’s planned 345-megawatt sodium-cooled reactor to be built in Kemmerer in western Wyoming. The company said the facility is expected to be operational in the early 2030s.
TerraPower said it plans to begin construction in the coming weeks and expects to submit an operating license application to the NRC in late 2027 or early 2028. The NRC said it completed its technical review of the design in less than 18 months.
Natrium design pairs reactor output with on-site energy storage
The Kemmerer project is a sodium-cooled reactor known as Natrium, a design promoted as part of the broader push for smaller, factory-oriented nuclear plants. While today’s large U.S. reactors typically average around 1 gigawatt, or roughly 1,000 megawatts, TerraPower’s initial unit is smaller by design.
The NRC said the plant includes an energy storage system that can temporarily boost output to as much as 500 megawatts. That feature is intended to provide additional flexibility, enabling the site to increase electricity delivery when needed rather than operating at a single steady output level.
Supporters of small modular reactors say designs like Natrium could eventually be manufactured in factories and assembled on site, lowering costs by standardizing components and reducing complex construction work in the field. Critics argue that smaller reactors may struggle to reach the economies of scale achieved by larger plants and could remain expensive even if production methods improve.
Permitting speed aligns with White House push for new nuclear build
The approval arrives as the Trump administration is pressing to accelerate nuclear deployment. President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to quadruple nuclear power capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. Last year, Trump issued executive orders aimed at speeding NRC permitting, with a goal of shortening a multi-year process to 18 months.
The NRC’s timeline for the TerraPower design review came in below that threshold, reflecting a faster pace than many recent nuclear licensing efforts. The commission’s decision is likely to be watched closely by both developers and investors as an indicator of whether a quicker regulatory cadence can be sustained for additional projects in the small reactor pipeline.
Even with construction authorization, commercial operation will still depend on later licensing steps and on the availability of fuel, components, and skilled labor. TerraPower’s plan to file for an operating license in 2027 or 2028 sets up another major regulatory milestone before the project can begin generating power.
HALEU becomes central constraint as U.S. builds domestic supply
A key differentiator for Natrium is its intended use of high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU. Developers say the fuel can improve efficiency and support advanced reactor designs. HALEU is enriched to nearly 20%, compared with the roughly 5% enrichment level typical of uranium used in most reactors today.
The shift to HALEU creates a new supply chain challenge. The fuel has traditionally been produced in Russia, and U.S. developers have been seeking domestic alternatives to reduce reliance on foreign supply for a material viewed as strategically important.
In January, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $900 million each to American Centrifuge Operating, a subsidiary of Centrus Energy, and to General Matter, a company backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, to develop domestic HALEU capability. Those awards are intended to expand production options as advanced reactor projects move from design into construction and, eventually, operation.
At the same time, non-proliferation advocates have raised concerns about higher enrichment levels and the security requirements associated with transporting and storing the fuel. Some advocates have urged limiting HALEU enrichment to 12%, arguing that lower enrichment could reduce the risk of the supply chain being targeted by militants seeking material for a crude nuclear weapon.
The TerraPower decision therefore advances two policy agendas at once: accelerating new nuclear construction and forcing the U.S. to solve for a domestic fuel pathway that matches the needs of next-generation designs. For the nuclear industry, the approval is a milestone. For energy planners, it is also a reminder that regulatory progress alone does not guarantee timelines unless fuel and infrastructure capacity expand in parallel.
