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Students brief commission on TerraPower Natrium reactor design; staff stresses no local siting plans
Summary
Two students presented technical and economic findings on TerraPower's Natrium sodium-cooled reactor, including waste handling, safety features, 345 MW capacity and an estimated $4 billion Wyoming demonstration cost; commission staff reiterated no reactor is under consideration for Iowa City.
Two Iowa students presented research on TerraPower's Natrium sodium-cooled reactor at an Iowa City Climate Commission meeting, outlining waste management, safety systems and projected economics while commission staff emphasized the city is not considering building a reactor locally.
The students, who identified themselves as Adam and Grace, told commissioners the Natrium design is intended to produce about 345 megawatts at roughly 41% thermal efficiency and can store about 1,800 megawatts of thermal energy in molten salt for dispatchable output. "It's designed to produce 345 megawatts of energy at 41% thermal efficiency," Adam said during the presentation.
Commission staff prefaced the briefing by saying the presentation was informational only. "A small scale nuclear reactor is not something under consideration to build in Iowa City or even its vicinity," a commission staff member said, urging the…
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