KEMMERER, Wyoming – The general contractor for Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower’s signature power project in Wyoming has abruptly exited the construction project, after reported disagreements about how to proceed with the planned 345 mega-watt, zero carbon-emission reactor.
TerraPower broke ground for its Natrium power plant on June 10 with engineering firm, Bechtel, contracted for construction, but Bechtel filed an employee lay-off notice, known as a WARN, in its home-state of Virginia on September 15.
TerraPower was co-founded by Bill Gates in an accelerated effort to create bulk electricity generation in an advanced small modular reactor (SMR) design that generates hundreds of megawatts of continuous electrical power with a molten salt thermal storage system. It’s among the vanguard of the engineering and tech companies promising clean energy of tomorrow, today.
According to the WARN filing, Bechtel said there could be approximately 200 layoffs because the two companies “were unable to reach an agreement on the next phase of the project and have decided to move forward separately.” The impending layoffs are expected on or about November 16, as Bechtel ends its involvement in the project.
TerraPower, which also has an Everett test facility developing medical isotopes, announced at the June groundbreaking, approximately 1,600 workers would eventually be needed for construction at the project’s peak. Construction was set to span five years. Once the plant is operational, the company estimates that 250 people will support day-to-day activities, including plant security.
In a written statement Bechtel said it will remain at the Kemmerer site to “support an orderly transition.” The statement went on to say, “Bechtel has supported TerraPower’s Natrium project through several significant milestones, including securing the NRC construction permit, the first ever issued for a commercial non–light water reactor in the United States; completing the exterior enclosure of the sodium test & fill facility; placing major procurements; and beginning foundational work for Kemmerer Unit 1,” which involved work completed under an earlier phase of the project before the full engineering and procurement scope was determined.
Neither Bechtel nor TerraPower indicated who would take over at the Kemmerer project, and TerraPower said the contract would be rebid, according to the American Nuclear Society. This summer, however, TerraPower announced Hyundai Engineering & Construction would be TerraPower’s EPC contractor for up to eight of its 345-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactors.
On the end of its partnership with Bechtel, a spokesperson for TerraPower said, “Bechtel will remain on-site to complete the sodium test and fill facility, and we look forward to continuing our work with them on that first-of-a-kind facility.” Bechtel leads the Hanford Waste Treatment project in Richland, Wash. through its Bechtel National, Inc. subsidiary to manage 56 million gallons of legacy radioactive waste.
Upon completion, the Natrium demonstration plant will be a fully functioning commercial power plant. It is being constructed near a retiring coal-fired power plant and is the only coal-to-nuclear project under development in the world. Terra Power received federal permitting on March 4, the first approval for a plant expected to run on a special, more-enriched uranium fuel. The March 4 approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was the first in nearly a decade for a commercial reactor. The sodium-cooled reactor site is in the western part of Wyoming and is expected to be operational in 2031, according to TerraPower.
The project features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MW of power when needed, which is equivalent to the energy required to power around 400,000 homes, or about eight times the number of homes in the city of Everett. The energy storage capability allows the plant to integrate seamlessly with renewable resources and is the only advanced reactor design with this unique structure.
Earlier this year, TerraPower submitted its construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Natrium reactor. TerraPower is the first to submit its construction permit application for a commercial advanced reactor to the NRC. Due to its unique design, non-nuclear construction is beginning, while nuclear construction will begin after this application is approved in 2027 or 2028.
According to Terra Power, Through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public private partnership, this Natrium reactor demonstration project is intended to validate the design, construction and operational features of the Natrium technology.
Built for the 21st century grid, TerraPower says its Natrium technology is one of the fastest and lowest-cost paths to advanced, zero-carbon energy.
Bill Gates co-founded TerraPower in 2008 and serves as its chairman, providing foundational financial backing through Cascade Investment alongside major funding rounds, including a $750 million raise in 2022 and a $650 million raise in June 2025. Gates serves as TerraPower’s Chairman of the Board.
TerraPower is also expanding applications into medical isotope development via subsidiaries like TerraPower Isotopes which operates a facility in Everett near Paine Field.
Since 2018, TerraPower Isotopes has been working to increase the supply of actinium-225. Actinium-225 is an alpha-emitting radionuclide that may have application in the area of oncology targeted alpha therapy research and development, according to its website. The isotope can be attached to a molecule, which can then selectively target and deliver the actinium-225 to the cancer site. The actinium-225 labeled drug products, once developed and approved, can destroy the cancerous tissue with minimum damage to nearby healthy cells.
The TPI team of experts has developed a process to extract research grade actinium-225 through a natural decay method from Thorium-229. TerraPower Isotopes is working with Isotek to recover the Thorium-229 from Uranium-233 stockpiles that are managed by the U.S. Department of Energy.