In addition to the Rolls-Royce small modular reactor (SMR) SMR timed to coincide with the COP26 environmental conference, another type of SMR has been in the news. The natrium reactor, financed by Bill Gates’ Terrapower, announced the achievement of certain development milestones. Wyoming’s governor announced that Terrapower would build its demonstration reactor at a former coal plant site, the specific site to be announced later this year. Mr. Gates referred to a $4 billion price tag for this 345 MW facility although other sources quoted an estimated ultimate commercial cost as low as $1 billion. Natrium, as many of our readers know, is simply the Latin word for sodium. The natrium reactor uses sodium as a moderator instead of water or heavy water as in most conventional, commercial reactors today. Sodium has several advantages over water as a reactor moderator because: 1) it can absorb more heat than water, […]