TerraPower

Cover Block

Field	Value
Name	TerraPower
Tagline	Develops advanced nuclear reactors like Natrium for clean energy and isotopes for medical applications.
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington, USA
Founded	2006
Stage	Growth / Late Stage
Business Model	B2B
Industry	Deeptech (Advanced Nuclear)
Technology Type	Hardware
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Repeat Founder
Funding Label	$100M+
Total Disclosed	~$650,000,000 (most recent round)

Links

• Website: https://www.terrapower.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/terrapower
• Careers: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/terrapowerllc

Executive Summary

TerraPower is a Bellevue, Washington advanced-reactor developer building the Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor and a parallel medical-isotopes business. It is the first U.S. advanced reactor company to receive a Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permit for a utility-scale plant [Department of Energy, 2025]. Founded in 2006 by Bill Gates, Nathan Myhrvold and John Gilleland, the company has spent nearly two decades moving a non-light-water reactor design through federal review [Wikipedia]. The Natrium product, co-developed with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, pairs a 345 MWe sodium-cooled reactor with a molten-salt energy storage system intended to flex output up to 500 MWe [TerraPower, October 2025]. Leadership combines deep nuclear engineering experience with utility-program execution under President and CEO Chris Levesque [TerraPower; Craft.co]. The 2024 capital raise of approximately $650 million, with participation from Nvidia's NVentures, HD Hyundai and SK Group, ties the company to the AI-power thesis [Crunchbase News; ESG Today]. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the items to watch are construction milestones at the Kemmerer, Wyoming demonstration plant, progress on the UK Generic Design Assessment, and conversion of the announced Meta agreement for up to eight Natrium units into firm orders [World Nuclear News; TerraPower].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Department of Energy, Crunchbase News, and TerraPower primary sources.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Stage	Growth / Late Stage
Business Model	B2B (utility and hyperscaler offtake)
Industry / Vertical	Deeptech, Advanced Nuclear Energy
Technology Type	Hardware (sodium-cooled fast reactor + molten salt storage)
Geography	North America (HQ), with UK regulatory entry
Growth Profile	Venture Scale, capital-intensive
Founding Team	Repeat Founder (Gates, Myhrvold, Gilleland)
Funding	$100M+ (~$650M latest round)

How the Company Got Here

TerraPower was incorporated in 2006 as an Intellectual Ventures spinout, with Bill Gates as chair, Nathan Myhrvold as co-founder, and nuclear physicist John Gilleland leading the technical effort [Wikipedia; PitchBook, 2026]. The company is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington [Wikipedia].

The modern commercial chapter began in 2020, when the U.S. Department of Energy selected Natrium for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, and continued through the 2021 commercial launch of the Natrium product with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy [TerraPower]. In 2021, TerraPower and PacifiCorp announced Kemmerer, Wyoming as the demonstration site, and later agreed to study up to five additional commercial units by 2035 [TerraPower]. Site work began in 2024 for non-nuclear infrastructure.

The NRC completed its final safety evaluation for the Kemmerer Unit 1 construction permit application in 2025 and issued the construction permit shortly after [ANS Nuclear Newswire, 2025; Department of Energy, 2025]. The Wyoming Industrial Siting Council subsequently granted approval for construction and operations [ANS Nuclear Newswire, 2026]. Commercial operation at Kemmerer is targeted for the early 2030s [TerraPower, October 2025; E&E News by POLITICO].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by TerraPower, Wikipedia, ANS Nuclear Newswire, and Department of Energy.

Product and Technology

The core product is the Natrium reactor, a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with a molten salt thermal storage loop that allows the plant to dispatch up to 500 MWe [TerraPower; World Nuclear News]. Sodium as a coolant operates at near-atmospheric pressure.

TerraPower runs a separate Isotopes business developing medical isotopes for cancer treatment, including actinium-225 [TerraPower]. A second reactor program, the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment with Southern Company at Idaho National Laboratory, targets demonstration of a fast-spectrum salt reactor [TerraPower].

Deployment roadmap includes the Kemmerer demonstration plant, an agreement with Evergy and the State of Kansas, a PacifiCorp study of up to five additional units by 2035, and a 2025 agreement with Meta covering early development for two Natrium units with rights for up to six additional plants [TerraPower]. Open engineering roles, including Principal Fuel Fabrication Engineer, Nuclear Security Systems Resident Engineer, and Quality Assurance Manager (USO), suggest active hiring across fuel, site security, and quality functions.

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by TerraPower, World Nuclear News, and Greenhouse postings.

Market Research and Opportunity

Advanced nuclear has moved into an active procurement category, driven by hyperscaler power demand and state-level decarbonization mandates.

TerraPower's portfolio includes a reported $3.5 billion 10-year HALEU offtake commitment [LinkedIn - Nick Lawson]. The Meta agreement for up to eight Natrium plants and the PacifiCorp study covering up to five additional units imply a forward pipeline into the double-digit-unit range [TerraPower].

Metric	Value
HALEU offtake (10 yr)	$3.5B
Kemmerer demo permanent jobs	250
Meta agreement scope	up to 8 Natrium plants
PacifiCorp study scope	up to 5 additional units by 2035

AI data center load growth has pushed hyperscalers from renewable PPAs into firm-power procurement. Coal plant retirements, particularly in Wyoming and Kansas, create siting opportunities with existing transmission and workforce. Federal policy under the Inflation Reduction Act and the ADVANCE Act has improved the production tax credit picture.

Regulatory and macro forces cut both ways. The NRC construction permit at Kemmerer is a de-risking event, but Natrium requires an operating license before commercial power production, and the sodium coolant choice remains contested in some safety analyses [The Boston Times, 2026]. The UK Generic Design Assessment entry opens an international pathway but adds a multi-year regulatory process [World Nuclear News]. HALEU supply depends on a domestic enrichment buildout.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Multiple confirmed contract data points; no third-party TAM cited in available sources.

Competitive Landscape

TerraPower competes inside a small set of advanced-reactor developers chasing utility and hyperscaler offtake. The competitive map has three layers: direct advanced-reactor peers (NuScale Power, X-energy, Oklo, Kairos Power), incumbent light-water reactor vendors (Westinghouse, GE Hitachi), and non-nuclear firm power (gas with carbon capture, geothermal, and large-scale storage).

TerraPower's defensible edge includes the NRC construction permit at Kemmerer [Department of Energy, 2025], the GE Hitachi commercial partnership, and capital depth with Bill Gates and the 2024 round bringing Nvidia, HD Hyundai and SK Group onto the cap table [Crunchbase News].

Schedule risk remains against substitutes that can deliver power earlier, such as reactor restarts and gas-with-CCS. Natrium's first commercial electrons are targeted for the early 2030s.

Opportunity

If execution holds, TerraPower has a path to becoming the default Western advanced-reactor platform for the AI-power era. The single largest outcome is that Natrium becomes the reference design for utility-scale advanced nuclear in the United States, with a fleet measured in dozens of units by the late 2030s. Three of the hardest gates have moved: NRC construction permit issued at Kemmerer [Department of Energy, 2025], Wyoming siting approval granted [ANS Nuclear Newswire, 2026], and a named hyperscaler (Meta) under agreement [TerraPower].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst
Hyperscaler standard	Meta agreement converts to firm orders	Firm order for first two Meta Natrium units
Utility fleet build	PacifiCorp commits to additional units	Kemmerer Unit 1 commissioning
International export	UK Generic Design Assessment clears Natrium	Successful GDA milestones

Advanced nuclear flywheels are slow but durable. The regulatory loop shortens review for subsequent units; the supply chain loop improves economics per unit; the customer reference loop lowers risk for future procurement.

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Department of Energy, TerraPower, ANS Nuclear Newswire, and World Nuclear News.

Sources

1. [TerraPower] TerraPower | Natrium Nuclear Energy | Isotopes Cancer Treatment | https://www.terrapower.com/
2. [TerraPower] About TerraPower | https://www.terrapower.com/about/
3. [TerraPower, October 2025] News | https://www.terrapower.com/news
4. [TerraPower] TerraPower Natrium | Advanced Nuclear Energy | https://www.terrapower.com/natrium/
5. [TerraPower] TerraPower Isotopes | Collaborative Innovation in Nuclear Medicine | https://www.terrapower.com/isotopes/
6. [TerraPower] TerraPower and Meta Enter Agreement for 8 Natrium Advanced Nuclear Plants | https://www.terrapower.com/terrapower-announces-deal-with-meta
7. [TerraPower] Wyoming Nuclear Energy Milestones | https://www.terrapower.com/wyoming/
8. [TerraPower] TerraPower and PacifiCorp Announce Efforts to Expand Natrium Technology Deployment | https://www.terrapower.com/terrapower-and-pacificorp-announce-efforts-to-expand-natrium-technology-deployment/
9. [TerraPower] TerraPower, Evergy and the State of Kansas announce agreement to explore advanced nuclear energy deployment | https://www.terrapower.com/terrapower-evergy-and-kansas-announce-agreement-to-explore-advanced-nuclear-energy-deployment
10. [TerraPower] TerraPower and Southern Company to demonstrate the world's first fast-spectrum salt reactor at Idaho National Laboratory | https://www.terrapower.com/southern-terrapower-mcre-agreement/
11. [TerraPower] TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Introduce Commercial Natrium Power Production and Storage System | https://www.terrapower.com/terrapower-and-ge-hitachi-nuclear-energy-launch-natrium-technology/
12. [Wikipedia] TerraPower - Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower
13. [Crunchbase] TerraPower - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/terrapower
14. [Crunchbase News] Bill Gates-Founded Nuclear Energy Startup Raises $650M From Nvidia's VC Arm, Others | https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/nuclear-terrapower-raise-nvda-gates/
15. [ESG Today] Nvidia Backs $650 Million Capital Raise for Bill Gates' Nuclear Tech Company TerraPower | https://www.esgtoday.com/nvidia-backs-650-million-capital-raise-for-bill-gates-nuclear-tech-company-terrapower/
16. [Scientific American] Bill Gates-backed nuclear start-up TerraPower just got cleared to start building its first power plant | https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bill-gates-backed-nuclear-startup-terrapower-just-got-cleared-to-start/
17. [E&E News by POLITICO] Nuclear startup TerraPower is moving fast. Some say too fast. | https://www.eenews.net/articles/nuclear-startup-terrapower-is-moving-fast-some-say-too-fast/
18. [World Nuclear News] TerraPower's Natrium reactor enters UK GDA process | https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/terrapowers-natrium-reactor-enters-uk-gda-process
19. [Utility Dive] NRC approves construction of advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming | https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nrc-approves-terrapower-project-first-utility-scale-advanced-nu/813851/
20. [TechCrunch, March 2026] Bill Gates' TerraPower gets approval to build new nuclear reactor | https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/06/bill-gates-terrapower-gets-approval-to-build-new-nuclear-reactor/
21. [PitchBook, 2026] TerraPower 2026 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/43074-28
22. [LinkedIn] TerraPower | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/terrapower
23. [LinkedIn] Nick Lawson - LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-lawson-bb851454/
24. [Greenhouse.io / TerraPower] Jobs at TerraPower LLC | https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/terrapowerllc