TerraPower said on Sept. 22 that it will rebid the engineering, procurement and construction contract for its estimated $4 billion Natrium nuclear project in Wyoming after developer and longtime contractor Bechtel decided not to proceed together in its full EPC phase.
The change comes five months after TerraPower began full construction of the 345 MW Kemmerer Unit 1 at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in Wyoming, following approval by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ENR reported in April that Bechtel was acting as the EPC contractor, a role it had held since 2020.
TerraPower said Bechtel will remain on site to complete the sodium filling and testing facility, with existing subcontractors and commercial grade EPC support firms maintaining construction.
“TerraPower is managing this transition to protect the overall construction schedule for Kemmerer Unit 1 and will re-solicit the EPC contract,” a company spokesperson told ENR in an email. The developer is still aiming for a 2030 completion.
Bechtel spokeswoman Molly Edwards said the contractor’s work to date was carried out in an earlier phase of its agreement with TerraPower, before the project entered the full scope of the EPC.
Work performed by Bechtel includes NRC permitting support, major procurement, completion of the sodium filling and testing facility exterior enclosure, and the start of foundation work on Kemmerer Unit 1, Edwards added.
“As we considered the next phase of the project, Bechtel and TerraPower decided to move forward separately,” he said, though he did not specify the reason for that decision. Bechtel will remain on site to complete the test and fill facility and support an orderly transition.
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new intelligent AI search tool.
Ask ENR →
TerraPower did not identify any potential contractors or a procurement timeline in its response to ENR.
Structural steel is taking shape at the TerraPower Kemmerer, Wyo., site, where Bechtel says its work has included major purchases and the start of foundation work on Unit 1. Click image to enlarge.
Image courtesy of Bechtel
The companies had publicly described their relationship as an EPC arrangement since 2020. ENR reported in 2021 that Bechtel was managing the design, licensing, procurement and construction of the project. When full nuclear construction began in April, ENR reported that Bechtel remained the EPC contractor.
Separate contracting relationships are already in place to deploy Natrium’s downstream plants.
A March 2025 strategic alliance with KBR aims to establish a repeatable procurement framework for Natrium projects. KBR could provide engineering, procurement and construction management services, including design and commissioning, TerraPower said at the time.
Last month, Hyundai Engineering & Construction was selected as the EPC contractor for eight future Natrium reactors. The framework includes completion, price and performance guarantees that TerraPower says are intended to support conventional financing of subsequent plants.
TerraPower has not identified any companies as part of the Kemmerer EPC rebid.
Kemmerer’s Unit 1 is designed around a sodium-cooled fast reactor combined with molten salt energy storage. The system is designed to provide 345 MW of constant generation and increase output to 500 MW during periods of peak demand. The project is being developed under the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program with about $2 billion in federal funding equipped by TerraPower.
ENR file
Natrium construction project
Five years of ENR reports
ENR has followed TerraPower’s estimated $4 billion Wyoming Advanced Nuclear Project from site selection through permitting and full construction.
Bechtel does not expect any layoffs
A Sept. 15 worker adjustment and retraining notice filed in Virginia, where Bechtel is headquartered, identified about 200 contractor positions and employees at its Reston operation as potentially affected, with layoffs expected to begin on or around Nov. 16.
The workforce outlook has changed since then. Bechtel now says that the affected employees will be transferred to other nuclear projects and that it does not expect any actual layoffs.
“Our people will be transferred to other ongoing nuclear projects across the company, where the demand for these skills continues to grow,” Edwards says. “Although WARN notices are a legal requirement, we do not expect any actual layoffs.”
