JAKARTA - The high-tech nuclear energy project in Wyoming, which is supported by the US Department of Energy and Bill Gates, should be delayed by at least two years. Meanwhile a US senator said it showed that the United States needed to reduce its dependence on Russia for fuels specifically for such reactors.
TerraPower, a company founded by billionaire Gates, said last year the $4 billion Sodium plant would be built in Kemmerer, a remote town in Wyoming where coal factories will be closed by 2025.
According to a Juli Star Tribune report on Tuesday evening December 13, citing a TerraPower spokesman, the 345-megawatt-capable plant is likely to be delayed for at least the next two years.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it raised a big question mark for us, said Jeff Navin, a TerraPower spokesman told the Tribune. We have a plan. It is a very aggressive deadline; we feel quite confident that we can fulfill it. But it's all based on our first core refueling from Russia."
TerraPower did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the report.
US companies are now trying to develop a new generation of small nuclear plants to help reduce carbon emissions, but only one company is selling the fuel it needs, and it is a Russian company.
The fuel, called high-assay low-riched uranium, or HALEU, is enriched to 20%, much higher than the 5% level used by most reactors today.
The US government is looking into ways to mix part of its weapons-level uranium stockpile to help provide fuel, but Navin said it did not have the capacity to dismantle the warhead faster. The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
"Instead of relying on our enemies such as Russia for uranium, the United States must produce its own state-of-the-art supply of nuclear fuel," said Senator John Barrasso, a Republic Wyoming, who has introduced legislation to increase the production of domestic HALEU.
Only one company outside Russia, US-based Centrus Energy Corp. has a license to produce HALEU but is still years away from generating commercial numbers.
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