(Reuters) -TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company founded by Bill Gates, has submitted a design for a new type of reactor and energy storage system for regulatory approval in Britain, in its first foray into international markets, the company said on Tuesday.
The application to the UK’s Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process marks the first regulatory step towards deploying its Natrium technology in a global market, TerraPower said.
“We look forward to working with the UK government as we work through the review process,” said Chris Levesque, TerraPower president and CEO.
The company is looking to identify sites for its Natrium reactor in the UK in cooperation with U.S. engineering firm KBR, it added.
TERRAPOWER DESIGN MAY HELP UK DECARBONISATION EFFORTS
The UK is seeking to expand nuclear power, both large-scale as well as small modular reactors (SMR), as part of a drive to decarbonise its energy system while meeting growing demand, highlighting the potential significance of TerraPower’s design.
Potential hurdles to this effort include worries over financing, political opposition, and technical challenges.
TerraPower, co-founded by billionaire Gates, has cleared regulatory requirements in the United States, where the first Natrium plant is being constructed.
Its design features a 345 megawatt (MW) sodium-cooled fast reactor, with a molten salt-based energy storage system that is able to boost output to 500 MW for more than five and a half hours when needed, the company said.
This allows for seamless integration with renewable resources, it added.
(Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
