More good news for TerraPower on Kemmerer construction permit

This is the second time the NRC has shortened its schedule for reviewing the permit application for the proposed Natrium reactor and energy storage system. In February, the NRC sent a letter to George Wilson, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for TerraPower, informing him that the agency had completed its draft safety evaluation for the project a month ahead of schedule and was aiming to complete the review of the construction permit application by June 2026, ahead of the original August 2026 date.

Now, in a letter to Wilson dated July 1, the NRC said it was now planning to issue the final safety evaluation and the final environmental impact statement (EIS) by December 31. The NRC credited the reduced time to “frequent and productive engagements” with TerraPower, as well as consideration of President Trump’s Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” issued in May.

Unresolved topics: The NRC added that while the abbreviated schedule is being accommodated primarily through streamlined reviews by management and the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, several technical topics remain to be resolved before the agency can complete its review.

These include the following:

• Materials qualification, appropriate identification of special treatments for design, and construction of safety-significant structures, systems, and components.
• Treatment of preventative controls under the licensing modernization project (LMP) approach.
• Documentation supporting the probabilistic risk assessment used in the LMP and other licensing programs.
• Design and safety classification of the pool immersion cell and associated systems.
• The safety basis for non-safety-related with special treatment seismic/structural design approaches.

In addition, to complete the environmental review, the NRC requires the completion of a Section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act, along with the resolution of any substantive comments on the draft EIS.

If the NRC issues the construction permit, TerraPower will need to submit a separate operating license application.

The reactor: TerraPower’s Natrium reactor is a 345-MW sodium fast reactor that is coupled with the company’s innovative molten salt energy storage system, providing built-in gigawatt-scale energy storage. According to the company, “This makes the plant a perfect support for high-renewable-penetration grids where variable power output is a concern.”

The demonstration plant will be used to test and demonstrate the performance of first-of-a-kind equipment for the reactor. It is being built through a public-private partnership between TerraPower and the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.