Bill Gates Confident in Nuclear Support Regardless of Election Outcome

Bill Gates, the founder of TerraPower, has pledged to find an alternative to Russian uranium. Furthermore, he predicted that no matter who is elected in the upcoming November presidential election, it will not affect TerraPower.

Gates mentioned the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) that broke ground on the 16th (local time) during an interview with CBS Face the Nation, stating, “The old calculations have changed due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

He added, “Instead, supplies will come from the U.K., South Africa, and uranium mines in the U.S. and Canada, ultimately allowing the SMR project to proceed as planned.” On the 10th, TerraPower officially started various construction projects, including power production equipment and a 4th generation SMR reactor containing sodium, at the groundbreaking ceremony in Kemmerer, Wyoming. They applied for a construction permit for a sodium reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March.

However, the supply of uranium was on alert as President Joe Biden officially signed a bill banning the import of Russian uranium into the U.S. on the 13th. The U.S. had been receiving 20% of the enriched uranium used in 93 commercial reactors (annually $1 billion) from Russia. Gates emphasized, “We can meet fuel demand by going to free world countries,” and “We are also getting help from the U.S. government to establish an alternative plan.”

Gates confidently stated that the results of the upcoming November presidential election will not affect the TerraPower project. Gates explained, “Both Democrats and Republicans have very high support for the nuclear industry. Democrats recognize nuclear power as a value of clean energy, and Republicans are interested in energy security.”

Meanwhile, the SMR project that TerraPower recently started is the first SMR business in the U.S., and the total project cost is expected to reach up to $4 billion. Half of this amount is planned to be supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). SK Corporation and SK Innovation have secured a leading investor position by investing $250 million in TerraPower in 2022.