Everett nuclear research facility gets $750 million infusion

Bellevue’s TerraPower, which operates an Everett facility, got a hefty investment to fund research.

Test engineer Jacob Wilcox pulls his arm out of a glove box used for processing sodium at TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors, on Jan. 13, in Everett. A major economic bill headed to the president has “game-changing” incentives for the nuclear energy industry, experts say, and those tax credits are even more substantial if a facility is sited in a community where a coal plant is closing. Bill Gates’ company, TerraPower, plans to build an advanced, nontraditional nuclear reactor and employ workers from a local coal-fired power plant scheduled to close soon. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

EVERETT — TerraPower, an energy company that operates a 65,000-square-foot nuclear research facility near Paine Field, has secured $750 million in private funding.

The Bellevue company’s Everett facility supports research and development. The lab uses supercomputers to model, test and refine designs for nuclear generation systems and medical therapies.

TerraPower, which is developing nuclear energy and medical technologies, was launched by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2006.

The funding was led by SK Inc. and SK Innovation, subsidiaries of SK Group, a South Korean holding company.

SK Group, whose business portfolio includes semiconductors, sustainable energy, telecommunications and life sciences, invested $250 million.

With the close of the $250 million investment, SK “has become a large shareholder of TerraPower,” SK Group said in a news release.

Additional funding will come from other investors, TerraPower said.

The investment furthers TerraPower’s aim to advance nuclear energy technologies and nuclear medicine. A TerraPower program is developing a medical isotope that may aid drug developers in the development drugs that target and treat cancer.

TerraPower is building a prototype nuclear reactor in southwest Wyoming, which will test the power plant’s engineering, construction and function.

The company received an initial $80 million to build the company’s new Natrium reactor demonstration plant through a competitive grant offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

An illustration of the TerraPower Natrium nuclear-power plant planned for Kemmerer, Wyoming. (TerraPower)

Because nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases, it is considered a carbon-free energy source. Nuclear reactors currently supply about 20% of the electricity consumed in the United States. Another 60% of America’s electrical power comes from fossil fuels — coal, natural gas and renewables. The remainder is generated by renewables, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“TerraPower is committed to solving some of the toughest challenges that face this generation through innovation,” said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower.

“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,” Levesque said.

Moohwan Kim, executive vice president and head of Green Investment Center at SK Inc., said: “We are committed to supporting TerraPower’s global deployment of game changing products. We see important synergies in our businesses and this investment reinforces our strategic global carbon reduction goals.”

TerraPower is not the only energy company to receive funding.

Last year, Everett-based Helion Energy, which focuses on generating electricity from nuclear fusion, secured $500 million in funding with the promise of another $1.7 billion, should it reach certain milestones.

Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @JanicePods.

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Gallery

TerraPower’s Michael Anderson, manager of test engineers and technicians, talks about the large periodic table on the wall overhead during a tour of the nuclear reactor development facility, on Jan. 13, in Everett. TerraPower plans to make its plant useful for today’s energy grid with ever more renewable power. A salt heat “battery” will allow a nuclear plant to ramp up electricity production on demand, offsetting dips in electricity when the wind isn’t blowing and sun isn’t shining. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors, displays a fuel assembly model on Jan. 13, in Everett. The 5-foot model is about one-third actual length and would be vertical when in use, rather than horizontal. By cooling the reactor with liquid sodium, a metal that solidifies at well above room temperature, TerraPower says its relatively small, 345-megawatt plant will be safe and less expensive than conventional, water-cooled nuclear plants. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

Evan Kline, a test engineer at TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors, works on a project there on Jan. 13, in Everett. In November, Bill Gates’ company TerraPower announced it had chosen Kemmerer, Wy., for a nontraditional, sodium-cooled nuclear reactor that will bring on workers from a local coal-fired power plant scheduled to close soon. The project comes as many U.S. states see nuclear emerging as an answer to fill the gap as a transition away from coal, oil and natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

An illustration of the TerraPower Natrium nuclear-power plant planned for Kemmerer, Wyoming. (TerraPower)

TerraPower’s Michael Anderson, manager of test engineers and technicians, talks about the large periodic table on the wall overhead during a tour of the nuclear reactor development facility, on Jan. 13, in Everett. TerraPower plans to make its plant useful for today’s energy grid with ever more renewable power. A salt heat “battery” will allow a nuclear plant to ramp up electricity production on demand, offsetting dips in electricity when the wind isn’t blowing and sun isn’t shining. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors, displays a fuel assembly model on Jan. 13, in Everett. The 5-foot model is about one-third actual length and would be vertical when in use, rather than horizontal. By cooling the reactor with liquid sodium, a metal that solidifies at well above room temperature, TerraPower says its relatively small, 345-megawatt plant will be safe and less expensive than conventional, water-cooled nuclear plants. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)

Evan Kline, a test engineer at TerraPower, a company developing and building small nuclear reactors, works on a project there on Jan. 13, in Everett. In November, Bill Gates’ company TerraPower announced it had chosen Kemmerer, Wy., for a nontraditional, sodium-cooled nuclear reactor that will bring on workers from a local coal-fired power plant scheduled to close soon. The project comes as many U.S. states see nuclear emerging as an answer to fill the gap as a transition away from coal, oil and natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson)