By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Bill Gates’ advanced nuclear power venture said Tuesday it chose Wyoming for its $4 billion demonstration facility. It will receive half the funding from the U.S. government.

TerraPower’s Natrium power plant will be located in Kemmerer. This is a small town in Wyoming where Naughton’s coal plant was due to close in 2025. In accordance with Congress’ timeline, the 345 megawatt facility will open in 2028.

Project will receive $1.9 billion in federal funding, including $1.5 million from President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. It included $2.5 billion to fund advanced nuclear reactors.

Chris Levesque is president and CEO at TerraPower. He said that it’s a serious grant from the government. According to Levesque, “This was required because the U.S. Government and U.S. Nuclear Industry were falling behind.”

America has competed with Russia and China, who also want to develop advanced reactors and then export them.

Advanced reactors will be smaller and more easily built than conventional ones. Natrium would use uranium that has been enriched to up to 20% as fuel, which is a much higher level than the current fuel.

According to some experts in nuclear power, the higher-enriched fuel might be a tempting target for terrorists looking to make a crude nuclear weapon.

The advanced reactor advocates claim the plants are more safe and produce less waste.

Gates originally hoped to create an experimental nuclear power plant close to Beijing using the state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. After the Trump administration restricted nuclear agreements with China, TerraPower had to look for new partners.

Jennifer Granholm Energy Secretary said the project would bring new hope to communities where there is no coal plant. The energy communities that have powered our lives for many generations now have the opportunity to provide clean energy. Projects like this will help them.