- Bill Gates is optimistic about the future of nuclear power in America thanks to bipartisan support.
- Gates is building the plant in Wyoming with TerraPower, a company he co-founded.
- Nuclear energy is America's largest clean source of power and is key to driving AI development.
Bill Gates says the outlook for nuclear energy in America is bright.
The billionaire former Microsoft CEO is already building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming with TerraPower, a company he co-founded.
The company plans to have the nuclear plant operational in 2030, Business Insider previously reported, and Gates is “fairly confident” the project will move forward regardless of who wins the White House or majority in Congress in November.
“The bipartisan support for nuclear power has been very impressive,” Gates told CBS News on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Of all the climate work that I do, it's actually the nuclear work that has seen the most bipartisan enthusiasm.”
He noted that each party's reasons for supporting nuclear power “may not be the same,” with Republicans prioritizing energy security and exports and Democrats prioritizing both those things and clean energy.
“Nuclear power is really special,” he told CBS. “Not because it's environmentally friendly — some people don't care about that, but I hope they do — they care about nuclear power because of American leadership. And we certainly don't want enemy nuclear reactors all over the world, because it creates huge economic jobs.”
Nuclear energy is considered America's largest source of clean energy, providing nearly half of the nation's emission-free electricity, according to the Office of Nuclear Energy, a government agency.
In nuclear power plants, energy is produced through nuclear fission reactions, in which subatomic particles called neutrons collide with perfect atoms, splitting the atom in two. This reaction releases a large amount of heat, which is used to boil water and produce steam. This steam passes through the reactor's steam system to spin turbines and generate electricity.
Lawmakers from both parties have been working to bolster the nuclear energy industry this year.
In March, the House of Representatives passed the ADVANCE Act, which would expand the use of nuclear energy in the United States and abroad. President Joe Biden also signed legislation in March allocating $100 million for nuclear workforce development programs at universities, colleges and technical schools.
The new focus on nuclear energy coincides with a surge in AI development, as tech companies such as OpenAI increasingly seek cleaner, greener forms of energy to meet the massive power demands of their data centers.
