TerraPower, the nuclear innovation company founded by Bill Gates, announced a $750 million funding raise co-led by Gates and SK, a large South Korean conglomerate that is one of South Korea’s largest energy providers. These funds are intended for the development of small-scale nuclear reactors. These are supposed to be an alternative to regular reactors, which are much larger and more expensive.
TerraPower builds the reactors in factories and then supplies them to companies that want to produce nuclear energy. By building them in factories, Gates thinks it will save time and costs. The first plant is expected to be commissioned in six years.
“Whether it’s addressing climate change with carbon-free advanced nuclear energy or fighting cancer with nuclear isotopes, our team is deploying technology solutions and investors across the world are taking note,” Chris Levesque, the CEO of TerraPower, said in a statement.
The call for small nuclear reactors is growing worldwide. More and more countries see nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. This makes nuclear energy an important tool in tackling climate change. But the costs of conventional nuclear power plants are very high.
One of the largest investments in Gates' company comes from the South Korean industrial conglomerate SK Group, which is investing $250 million. The company believes that by 2050, more than half of all nuclear reactors will be small-scale reactors.