Wyoming Breaks Ground on the Nation's First Advanced Nuclear Power Plant
- Cassie Kelley
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Wyoming has powered America for generations — coal, oil, natural gas, wind. Now the state is adding a new energy source to that list, and this one comes with a footnote: it's a first for the entire country.
On April 23, TerraPower officially broke ground on its Natrium nuclear plant outside Kemmerer, marking the start of construction on the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States.
A Long Time Coming
Wyoming has no shortage of energy resources, but commercial nuclear power has never been part of the mix — until now. TerraPower, founded in 2008 and backed by Bill Gates, had originally planned to build its first reactor in China. That deal collapsed in 2019 when the Trump administration restricted technology transfers to Chinese state-owned companies. The company refocused on domestic development, and Wyoming emerged as the site.
Four Wyoming communities were considered — Gillette, Kemmerer, Glenrock, and Rock Springs — all towns with coal infrastructure facing an uncertain future. Kemmerer was selected in 2021, chosen in part because of its existing grid connections, water access from the Hams Fork River, and local workforce with energy industry experience.
The Naughton Power Plant, a coal facility that has operated in Kemmerer since the 1960s, announced its shutdown in 2019. The Natrium plant is being built on that same site — making it the only active coal-to-nuclear transition project in the world.
What the Plant Actually Does
The Natrium reactor is a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor paired with a molten salt energy storage system. At peak demand, it can surge to 500 megawatts — enough to power approximately 400,000 homes.
That flexibility matters. Unlike traditional nuclear plants, which run at a fixed output, the Natrium design can respond to demand on the grid. That makes it a strong complement to wind and solar, which generate power only when conditions allow.
The plant is also designed to run for 80 or more years. TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque has said the company expects to be in Wyoming "for the rest of the century at least."
What It Means for Wyoming's Workforce
The economic impact is immediate and long-term. At peak construction, roughly 1,600 workers will be on site. Once the plant comes online — targeted for 2030 — it will support approximately 250 permanent full-time positions in a community that lost its economic anchor when coal began its decline.
Beyond the direct jobs, Wyoming is already the nation's leading producer of uranium — the fuel source for nuclear plants. Renewed demand for domestic uranium is a direct benefit to Wyoming's mining industry as the national nuclear fleet looks to expand.
The Bigger Picture
This plant isn't just a local story. TerraPower has already signed an agreement with Meta to build up to 8 Natrium plants across the country by 2035, with the Kemmerer facility serving as the commercial blueprint. Energy demand in the U.S. is projected to triple by 2050, driven by electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and data centers. Wyoming is positioning itself to be part of that supply chain from the ground up.
WY It Matters
For Wyoming businesses, energy reliability and cost are foundational. A state that can supply steady, dispatchable power — power that doesn't depend on weather or time of day — is a more competitive place to operate. The Kemmerer plant also signals something broader: Wyoming's identity as an energy state is not tied to any single fuel source. It's tied to the ability to produce power at scale. That's a story worth telling.