TerraPower starts building Wyoming nuclear plant despite 60 mph wind gusts

Kemmerer, Wyo. — Wyoming’s notorious winds stole the show Wednesday in Kemmerer, as TerraPower opened its gates to the media for its nuclear plant’s first day of construction. Once built, the Natrium plant will become the nation’s first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant and the first commercial-scale sodium-cooled reactor in America.

Gusts were strong enough to sideline cranes at the site, shifting work to less wind-sensitive tasks. The wind also snarled up flights into Wyoming for TerraPower president and CEO Chris Levesque. The show — and the construction — went on in spite of the difficulties, with TerraPower Director of Construction Andy Chrusciel noting that he and his crews are used to the harsh weather and have learned to work around it. “The team together has made this a very safe site,” he said. “I’m very proud of it. The weather doesn’t bother us.”

TerraPower tracks wind speeds daily. Cranes come down around 25 mph, while elevated work platforms and siding crews stand down when gusts top about 30 mph to prevent steel sheets from turning into a “sail that carries you away.” Work crews come in around 6 a.m. each day to begin work before wind picks up, then switch to prep work or interior systems if winds climb. “It’s a challenge, but we enjoy the challenge here,” said lead engineer Stockett. “We don’t do this because it’s easy. We do it because it’s something worth doing.”

Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day has always called April the cruelest month. “You can have just spectacular weather one day, and really bad weather the next,” he said. The wind was carried in by a sharp cold front that barreled into western Wyoming on Wednesday, bringing 40 to 60 mph gusts along with rain, snow showers, and even lightning. Records showed wind in Kemmerer ramping from 7 mph at 7 a.m. to sustained gusts nearing 40 mph by noon.

Despite the difficulties, TerraPower pressed ahead with both construction and media tours. Scrapers worked in teams of two, cutting away soil in the nuclear island area. Sprayers followed, helping to keep dust down. “This is the initial cut of the ground,” Stockett said. “We are actually standing inside the nuclear island now. So, in not too long, we will be producing power right here on this site.”

The plant will bring about 1,600 workers to town at peak construction, and roughly 250 permanent jobs when it comes online around 2030. Once operational, the 345-megawatt, sodium-cooled fast reactor will be Wyoming’s first commercial nuclear generating station. TerraPower has already signed an agreement with Meta for up to eight Natrium plants by 2035.

What makes TerraPower different is its use of molten sodium to cool the reactor instead of water. Because sodium is not pressurized, it requires less heavy shielding and can absorb more heat, widening safety margins. Air vents, rather than water pumps, will cool the facility in an emergency, requiring no emergency electricity. TerraPower estimates its system will produce electricity at half the cost of a traditional nuclear plant.

Display boards at the event included a telling slogan: “The proof is in the progress.” An employee told Cowboy State Daily that for a long time advanced nuclear reactors had been all talk and no show. “Now it’s time to show,” the employee said with a grin.

“This is the moment our industry has been working toward for a generation,” Levesque said in a statement. “We’re not just breaking new ground on a first-of-a-kind nuclear plant in Wyoming. We’re building the next generation of America’s energy infrastructure.”