en.Wedoany.com Reported - TerraPower's Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor has officially initiated the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA), and the company has established its first overseas office, TerraPower UK. UK regulators will conduct evaluations focusing on safety, security, nuclear safeguards, and environmental impact. The technology is already advancing the construction of its first project in the United States and has received support from Meta's future nuclear energy plan.
The company, chaired by Bill Gates, also announced the establishment of its UK subsidiary, TerraPower UK, which is the company's first office outside the United States.
TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque stated that TerraPower is entering the UK market with a long-term commitment to support the country's clean energy future and aspires to be a serious and reliable project deployment partner.
He said that establishing the UK company and initiating the first phase of the UK Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process advances our mission to bring Natrium technology to the UK.
The GDA is a process for evaluating nuclear power plant designs, focusing on safety, security, and environmental impact. This process is conducted independently of applications to build a nuclear power plant at a specific site.
The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) stated that by conducting assessments during the design phase, any potential safety, security, or environmental issues can be identified and addressed before any commitment is made to build a reactor based on that design. The GDA is also intended to be generic, allowing the regulator's assessment findings to be potentially applied to multiple sites that subsequently use the design for construction.
TerraPower submitted its GDA application in October 2025, marking the first regulatory application for Natrium technology outside the US market. The application was accepted into the review process in February 2026, and the ONR, the UK Environment Agency (EA), and Natural Resources Wales have initiated the GDA process.
In the coming months, the ONR will consult with TerraPower, the EA, and Natural Resources Wales to prepare and agree on interface arrangements, conduct reactor familiarization work, and develop and define the scope, project implementation strategy, and assessment plan for the GDA, which will guide future formal assessment activities.
Alan McGoff, Head of New Nuclear Build Policy at the EA, stated that the purpose of the GDA is to reduce risks for future Natrium projects by ensuring environmental protection is integrated into the design from the outset. This is the first time we have been able to conduct a GDA using arrangements for enhanced cooperation between international regulators following the Atlantic Advanced Nuclear Energy Partnership signed by the US and UK governments in 2025.
Yeliz Marshall, Senior Specialist Advisor for Radioactivity and Industrial Policy at Natural Resources Wales, said this provides a valuable pathway to embed environmental protection requirements early in the Natrium design and address key risks before any future deployment.
Diego Fernandez Lisbona, ONR's Head of Regulation for the TerraPower Natrium GDA and Advanced Nuclear Technologies, stated that our focus is on conducting a flexible, timely, robust, risk-informed, and proportionate assessment of the safety, security, and nuclear safeguards aspects of the design, ensuring it meets UK regulatory requirements and expectations.
Ian Hudson, newly appointed Head of TerraPower UK, said that establishing a permanent presence allows us to work closely with partners to deliver the critical energy infrastructure needed to support the UK's clean energy transition and economic prosperity.
Regarding small modular reactors (SMRs), Rolls-Royce SMR's design entered the GDA process in 2022 and is currently in Stage 3, the final stage. Holtec's SMR-300 entered the GDA process in December 2023 and is currently in Stage 2. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 entered the process in January 2024 and completed Stage 2 in December 2025.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has served as Chairman of TerraPower since 2006. The company's molten salt-based energy storage system enables the Natrium plant to temporarily boost its output to 500 MWe when needed, allowing the plant to track daily electricity load changes and integrate seamlessly with variable renewable energy sources.
TerraPower began construction of the non-nuclear portion of its first Natrium plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in June 2024. The plant is expected to be completed by 2030 as the first commercial-scale advanced nuclear project in the United States. The first Natrium project is being advanced through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
In January 2026, social media giant Meta announced that its future nuclear energy plan includes funding to support the development of up to eight Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactors in the United States. Two of these new units could provide up to 690 MW of stable power, with the earliest operation by 2032; the plan also secures energy rights for an additional six Natrium units with a total installed capacity of 2.1 GW, targeting operation by 2035.
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