TerraPower plans to announce its first nuclear power project designed for a data center this year, according to Bloomberg. The Bill Gates-founded nuclear startup expects construction on the project to begin in 2027, which would make it the company’s second power plant.
TerraPower has not identified the customer. In January, however, the company announced an agreement with Meta covering eight Natrium nuclear power plants.
Its first Natrium plant is already under construction in Wyoming. TerraPower received regulatory approval earlier in 2026 to begin building the nuclear portion of that project.
Natrium Uses Energy Storage to Respond to Changing Demand
TerraPower’s Natrium design combines a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled nuclear reactor with molten-salt energy storage. Instead of rapidly increasing or decreasing the reactor’s output when electricity demand changes, the system keeps the reactor operating steadily and stores excess heat for later use.
When demand rises, the plant can use the stored heat to produce additional steam and generate more electricity. That design was originally intended to help nuclear power work alongside variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
The same characteristics could make the system suitable for AI data centers, where power consumption can rise and fall quickly as GPUs move between workloads. Behind-the-meter data centers often need additional battery storage or other infrastructure to manage those changes.
Nuclear Plants Typically Operate Near Full Capacity
Nuclear power plants generated at maximum output about 92.5% of the time in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. Existing reactors are less suited to rapid output changes and can typically adjust generation by around 5% of rated capacity per minute.
New small modular reactors can respond more quickly, at roughly 10% of rated output per minute, according to data from the National Laboratory of the Rockies. Operating nuclear plants below maximum capacity can also reduce their economics because the technology requires large upfront capital investment.
TerraPower’s storage system is designed to avoid reducing reactor output during periods of lower electricity demand. The reactor can continue producing heat while excess energy is stored and later released when the data center or grid requires more power.
That approach could allow the company to operate its nuclear equipment for more hours while still responding to rapidly changing electricity loads. TerraPower has not yet disclosed the location, customer, capacity, or commercial terms of its planned data center project.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.