TerraPower's molten salt reactor targets AI data centers with built-in energy storage
Original: TerraPower’s nuclear reactor has a secret weapon for powering AI data centers
Why This Matters
Nuclear energy with built-in storage could become a scalable, reliable power solution for growing AI infrastructure demand.
TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, plans to announce its first data center project in 2026, with groundbreaking expected in 2027. Its 345-MW Natrium molten salt reactor features built-in energy storage designed for rapid load fluctuation — a key advantage for AI workloads.
TerraPower, the nuclear startup founded by Bill Gates, is entering the AI data center power market. Bloomberg reported the company plans to announce its first data center customer in 2026, with construction starting in 2027. This would be its second power plant, following the first already under construction in Wyoming. In January 2026, Meta agreed to purchase eight of TerraPower's Natrium reactors.
The company's 345-megawatt molten salt-cooled Natrium reactor carries a key competitive advantage: integrated energy storage. Traditional nuclear reactors run at near-constant output — U.S. reactors operate at maximum power 92.5% of the time — but AI data center loads fluctuate sharply as GPUs ramp up during training or inference tasks. Conventional reactors can only adjust output at roughly 5% of rated capacity per minute; SMRs can manage about 10%.
Rather than varying reactor output directly, TerraPower's design leverages its molten salt thermal storage system to handle load swings. The approach was originally conceived to complement intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar, but the same flexibility applies to volatile data center demand — reducing the need for large and costly battery banks that data centers currently rely on to buffer power fluctuations.