In November CNBC reported:
Bill Gates’ TerraPower has chosen Kemmerer, Wyoming, a frontier-era coal town, as the site where the company will build its first demonstration nuclear power plant.
The plant will cost about $4 billion, half coming from TerraPower and half coming from the United States government, the company said.
Rocky Mountain Power — a division of PacifiCorp, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy — will operate the plant, which will play a role in the power company’s decarbonization strategy.
The project has two of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, involved. Two billion in taxpayer money? The is the other way policy making billionaires gain (after preferred tax laws/rules and purposeful lack of enforcement).
The latest news on the federally subsidized project reveals international assistance:
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd are set to cooperate with the United States and Bill Gates' venture company (TerraPower) to build a high-tech nuclear reactor in Wyoming. JAEA and Mitsubishi will provide technical support and data from Japan's own advanced reactors.
Gates' partner has had its own challenges with advanced nuclear reactors.
Japan has a bitter history of decommissioning its Monju prototype advanced reactor in 2016, a project which cost $8.5 billion but provided little results and years of controversy.
The Monju facility saw accidents, regulatory breaches, and cover-ups since its conception, and was closed following public distrust of nuclear energy after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
TerraPower spent significant energy selecting a site with minimal risk from environmental disasters, so I am not asserting the demonstration plant will end up like Fukushima Diachi. My only point is two billionaires, $2 billion federal subsidy.
