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Bill Gates Yacht: Everything You Want To Know

In 2020 the yachting world was abuzz with news that Bill Gates had bought as stunning and advanced yacht known as Project Aqua. The massive, 370-foot concept yacht was revealed in 2019 at the Monaco Yacht Show and news soon followed that billionaire Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world and the founder of Microsoft, had commissioned the construction of his own hydrogen-powered Aqua. But that never actually happened and, in fact, as near as anyone can tell for real, Bill Gates doesn’t own a yacht at all. 

So where did the story come from? What’s the deal with the Aqua? And hasn’t Bill Gates been pictured on a yacht before? Let’s get some answers.

How Much Did the Aqua Yacht Cost at the Monaco Yacht Show?

According to the stories online, Bill Gates paid $600 million for the hydrogen powered yacht. But that’s not true at all. According to the yacht makers, the Dutch company Sinot, the price tag is $645 million but no one bought it after it was revealed at the Monaco Yacht Show, and that includes Bill Gates. It’s expensive but definitely not the most expensive in the world.

How Fast is the Aqua Yacht?

Aqua is a unique yacht in the yachting world which is why it garnered so much attention in the first place. It’s the first mega yacht that runs on a fully operational liquid hydrogen and fuel cell system that features two hydrogen engines that can produce 1,341 horsepower. The top speed is 17 knots and  the Aqua has a cruising speed of 12 knots. The total range is 3,750 nautical miles. The liquid hydrogen is stored in two 28-ton vacuum sealed tanks where it can be held at -253 degrees C. The only exhaust is water.

What Does the Interior of  the Aqua Yacht Look Like?

The Aqua has 7 suites meant to house up to 14 guests at any given time. Two of those suites are larger VIP cabins. The ceilings throughout are 9 feet and stretch as high as 12.5 feet elsewhere thanks to the luxury Sinot yacht architecture. The vessel has room for a crew of 31 as well. The beach deck lounge aboard the boat alone looks like a luxury hotel space.

The Aqua features a bow observation room which is surrounded by windows to give a panoramic view of the ocean which has been described as the “ultimate superyacht owners lounge.” In addition, there’s a movie theater on the upper deck. It also includes a wellness center with a hydro massage room. You can also do some yoga in a workout space. There’s a fully equipped gym, a beauty salon, and even a hairdresser.

Up on the main deck there’s a luxury swimming pool that even includes a waterfall. One of the yacht’s defining features is the spiral staircase that covers all five decks and is covered by a skylight. On the way up it also offers a view of the interior of the hydrogen fuel tanks so you can see just what 56 tons of ultra cold liquid hydrogen looks like as you move between decks. 

The tender garage has an array of toys such as jet skis while the main deck features a beach club with a dining area designed for all 14 guests and a lounge that converts into the cinema space.

What Yacht Has Bill Gates Actually Been On?

Bill Gates does seem to like yachts, just not enough to spend his money owning one, and that’s fair. Yachts cost millions to maintain every year. No one got rich spending millions to maintain a boat.

That said, Bill Gates has not only vacationed on yachts – he spent his 66th birthday on one – he also got married on a yacht.

In 2021, Gates made the news when he celebrated his 66th on board a luxury yacht called the Lana alongside Jeff Bezos. He spent $2 million to charter the yacht for a week and flew 50 guests out to celebrate with him. 

The Lana is a 351 foot yacht with room for 12 guests and a cruising speed of 12 knots with a max speed of 18 knots. The master suite is 1,184 square feet. The room features his and hers walk-in dressing rooms and a private terrace.

Elsewhere on board you’ll find a piano in the lounge area as well as a full gym for working out. There’s both a sauna and a well-appointed spa as well. On deck you can head to the beach club or take a dip in the pool. 

There are three tenders in the garage alongside a bunch of toys including various jetskis, a seabob, wakeboards, WindSurfers, fishing equipment, scuba diving equipment and more. 

Back in 2014, Gates rented an even more expensive yacht, the $5 million per week Serene, to go on a vacation with his family. The Serene, once owned by  Russian vodka magnate Yuri Shelfer before being purchased by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, clocked in at a massive 450 feet making it one of the world’s biggest and even had its own on board submarine

The Serene features 7 decks, a saltwater pool, a climbing wall, a surprisingly large library, health spa, outdoor cinema and a nightclub. This is all spread across 48,000 square feet.

It’s also been confirmed that Gates met his wife Melinda on a yacht owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, all the way back in 1994. 

Why Do People Think Bill Gates Owns the Aqua?

It’s easy to see why people may have thought Gates owned the Aqua when you consider a handful of factors. First, as mentioned, we have lots of evidence that Bill Gates really does enjoy luxury yachts. The extremely high price tag was something that only a few people in the world are going to be able to afford and Gates, who doesn’t own a yacht, seems like a likely candidate for those reasons. 

In addition, Gates has spent several years now as a climate activist and has supported a number of green technologies. A yacht that runs on hydrogen seems like something he would support as well. So, with no real evidence, the circumstantial evidence was enough to easily convince people. Once it’s presented as fact on the internet, and it was in many articles and videos, few people had reason to question it. 

The Bottom Line

The mega yacht known as the Aqua has a price tag of $645 million and it runs on clan burning hydrogen fuel. The only byproduct of its operation is water, making it a very environmentally friendly yacht. It made waves, so to speak, when it debuted at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2019. Rumors soon began to spread that billionaire and known climate activist Bill Gates had ordered one for $600 million. However, despite many videos and articles that refer to him as the owner, the truth is no one bought the Aqua at the yacht show and, as of 2023, Bill Gates does not own a yacht at all. He is know to charter extremely luxurious yachts for vacations and parties, such as the Lana and the Serene, but he does not own any just now.

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The World's First Hydrogen-Powered Superyacht Has a $644 Million Price Tag

By Nick Mafi

Superyachts seemed to be among the last modes of (luxe) transportation to bend toward the growing consumer demand for eco-friendly engine designs. But if news from last week’s Monaco Yacht Show served as a bellwether, the industry meant to cater to the wealthiest among us made a progressive splash with the unveiling of Aqua, the world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht.

Designed by the Dutch firm Sinot Yacht & Architecture Design, Aqua is a nearly 400-foot-long vessel that's run entirely by a renewable energy source. "Water is the eternal fuel of life, the life-sustaining force that makes planet Earth habitable," says Sander Sinot, founder of the firm that bears his name. "Water is soft, yet at the same time it cuts through hard rocks." It was this appreciation of water that helped the firm find balance between the natural world and the technological. The propulsion system is made up of two 28-ton vacuumed tanks that each contain liquified hydrogen which are stored at -423 degrees Fahrenheit. Along with being eco-friendly, hydrogen-based energy means for a quieter experience aboard the ship in comparison to traditional engines. That said, there will be backup diesel generators handy should the captain ever need them.

The infinity pool aboard AQUA. 

There was much confusion on Monday if there was already a buyer who had paid the hefty $644 million price tag. Reports spread throughout the internet that billionaire Bill Gates had purchased the superyacht, rumors that proved to be false. Yet readers couldn't be blamed for believing such reports, as images show Aqua to include its own infinity pool, helipad, spa, and gym—amenities meant to attract billionaires such as Gates.

An aerial view of the superyacht shows how close passengers can get to the water, as well as the cascading design of the infinity pool.

Sinot and his team designed the vessel to safely bring passengers as close to the water as possible. "Water is relaxation; it makes us calmer and more creative," Sinot comments. "We wanted to provide those on board with the closest possible proximity to the water. The aft deck features an innovative series of platforms cascading down towards the sea, while a large swim platform allows all passengers to enjoy the optimal experience of accessing the water at sea level."

One of the bedrooms inside of Aqua shows a minimalist aesthetic. 

Aqua can reach speeds of up to 19.5 mph and features enough room for 14 guests and 31 crew members. The firm plans to complete the vessel by 2024.

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Bill gates reportedly orders $644m hydrogen-powered superyacht with gym, helipad, infinity pool.

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Bill Gates reportedly has his eye on the world’s first hydrogen-powered superyacht — a $644 million, environmentally friendly oasis on the sea with its own infinity pool, helipad, spa and gym.

The billionaire Microsoft co-founder was initially rumored to have already commissioned the 370-foot luxury Aqua yacht in a report Sunday in the UK paper The Telegraph.

However, the Dutch design firm Sinot insisted Monday that Aqua had yet to be sold to Gates, stressing it did not yet have a “business relationship” with the second-richest person in the world.

“We invite any visionary client to show their interest,” insisted the company — clearly aiming at eco-warrior billionaires just like him, with designer Sander Sinot saying the inspiration was “the lifestyle of a discerning, forward-looking owner.”

The vessel is powered by two 28-ton vacuum-sealed tanks cooled to minus-423 degrees Fahrenheit and filled with liquid hydrogen — with the only emission being water, according to the report. It will reach a top speed of 17 knots (19.5 mph) and be able to cross the Atlantic, the report says.

While far from the world’s largest yacht, plans show extreme luxury for the 14 guests and 31 crew members who can be accommodated.

It includes its own fully equipped gym, yoga studio, beauty room, massage parlor and a stunning outdoor infinity pool.

Along with luxurious bedrooms, there are numerous outdoor lounges, a giant spiral staircase and an amazing observation room at the front.

Gates’ main motivation in wanting to commission the yacht would be to signal his backing for new, clean technology to cut carbon emissions, the Telegraph said.

He regularly takes superyacht vacations — but usually rents yachts rather than owning his own.

Whoever buys it will not be able to enjoy it for a few more years, however, with the report saying Aqua will not be ready until 2024.

The Gates Foundation and Gates Ventures declined to comment to the Telegraph for its report.

“Aqua is a concept under development and has not been sold to Mr Gates,” Sinoit insisted.

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Bill Gates buys $500m hydrogen-powered yacht, or does he?

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Although the founder of Microsoft is one of the richest people in the world, Bill Gates has never owned a yacht. This is reported to change soon, as the 64-year-old is now apparently investing in a mega-yacht. It is to be the first yacht to be powered by hydrogen.

As  The Guardian  reported this weekend, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is said to have bought the first luxury yacht with hydrogen propulsion. The 112-meter yacht has five decks with a wellness and fitness area, a beauty salon and a helicopter landing pad. The luxury equipment of the yacht called "Aqua" is nothing unusual, however.

What is special, however, is the propulsion. The yacht of the manufacturer "Sinot" is supposed to be the first of its kind with hydrogen propulsion. The fuel is to be stored in two tanks and generates electricity in combination with fuel cells. The luxury yacht, which will probably not be completed before 2024, can reach about 17 knots, i.e. equivalent to about 30 km/h.

On the manufacturer's page , there are numerous glossy photos of the yacht, which is said to cost $500 million. A total of 31 crew members and 14 passengers therefore have space on the hydrogen steamer. Bill Gates makes no secret of his love for luxury yachts, but has never owned one.

However, since the 64-year-old is publicly committed to climate protection, this is not surprising. Hydrogen offers a potentially CO2-neutral mobility, which Gates is now willing to pay for in the form of its own yacht. Gates' assets are estimated at $120 billion. This makes him currently the second richest person in the world behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The BBC reports the story is fake news

Less than 24-hours after the original story was doing the rounds, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has now published a report that Bill Gates is actually not buying our hydrogen yacht. According to the public broadcaster, Sinot said it had "no business relationship" with Bill Gates. "Aqua is a concept under development and has not been sold to Mr. Gates," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

We'll have to wait and see if Bill makes a comment on the story himself to know for sure if this is going to happen or not. Ether way, we can still enjoy those beautiful concept images.

What do you think of hydrogen-powered vehicles (and superyachts!)? Share your thoughts below the line.

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A monster toy for rich show offs. Bill Gates is too intelligent to buy something like this and besides he is already showing that money can be better spent on social projects

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Yacht maker denies Bill Gates has purchased world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht

The billionaire had reportedly comissioned the 112-metre eco-friendly vessel with a beach deck, yoga room, cinema, observatory and infinity pool.

Billionaire Bill Gates has not purchased the world's first liquid hydrogen-powered luxury superyacht, according to the Dutch company that created it.

The Microsoft co-founder was reported to have commissioned the first Aqua vessel from Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design.

The company has issued a statement rebuking these reports.

"The hydrogen concept Aqua is not linked to Mr Gates (or his representatives) in any form," said Sinot in an official statement released Monday, February 10, 2020.

It also clarified that Sinot has no business relationship with Gates and that Aqua is "a concept under development and has not been sold to Mr Gates."

The Dutch company first revealed the concept at the Monaco boat show last year.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SinotYachtArchitecture&Design (@sinot_ya_d)

The 112-metre super yacht is an environmentally friendly concept thanks to its hydrogen-electric system which is capable of meeting all its on-board energy needs.

The yacht will be able to reach speeds of up to 17 knots with a range of 3,750 nautical miles — about the same distance as travelling from Dubai to London and back again.

On board there's planned space for up to 14 guests and 31 crew members.

The yacht's design was inspired by the shape of the ocean's swells and it will be created to ensure that whoever is on board can feel as close to the water as possible.

It's below the deck that the Aqua will really shine. There, two vacuum-sealed tanks filled with liquid hydrogen are capable of powering the vessel via on-board fuel cells that combine hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity. With water as a byproduct, the vessel would be environmentally-friendly.

Luxury living

A watery theme flows through Aqua's design with a statement circular staircase connecting the top deck to the lower deck. It has an open skylight and backlit stairs that create a sense of water flowing down the steps and into an ocean-themed piece of artwork at the bottom of the stairs.

The owner's pavilion is a residential area created from a series of intricately linked spaces interspersed with handcrafted wooden privacy panels.

There's also an elegant living and dining area, a huge master bedroom and a bathroom with his-and-hers vanity and a sunken bathtub.

Room with a view

On the bridge deck, a bubble hood-shaped roof and 360 degree views are planned for the cockpit-style space. An on-board observatory at the yacht's bow offers a place where guests can sit atop a stainless-steel floating airbed surrounded by endless ocean views.

Waterfalls and hydro-massages

Elsewhere, there's a circular shaped spa that leads to a state of the art gym which is designed with a huge viewing hatch that can be opened up to reveal unfiltered ocean vistas.

A hydro massage room delivers pressurised water-jet wellness treatments and there's also a beauty salon for looking good at sea.

The Aqua's eventual owner and his or her guests will bed-down in VIP cabins and rooms designed in a minimalist Japanese style. Located around the yacht's beach deck area, they will have access to a huge dining area and a circular seating space with gel-fueled fire bowls that can also be transformed into a private cinema.

Up on the top deck, water from the yacht's infinity pool cascades down the vessel towards sea level, creating a waterfall effect.

Sinot explained that the vessel is "meant to build a better future and inspire clients and the industry."

"We invite any visionary client to show their interest," concluded Sinot in the statement.

Exclusive: Bill Gates on the future of nuclear energy, AI

"Nuclear energy, if we do it right, will help us solve our climate goals."

TerraPower, founded by billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2008, is opening a new nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The plant will be the first of its kind, with the company hoping to revolutionize the nuclear energy industry in the U.S. to help fight climate change and support American energy independence.

"Nuclear energy, if we do it right, will help us solve our climate goals," Gates told ABC News. "That is, get rid of the greenhouse gas emissions without making the electricity system far more expensive or less reliable."

Gates met with ABC News' chief business, economics, and technology correspondent Rebecca Jarvis in Kemmerer to talk about the project.

MORE: Bill Gates made 2022's biggest charitable donation

"Nuclear has some incredible pluses," Gates said. "It's not weather dependent, you can build a plant, but the amount of energy coming out of a very small plant is gigantic."

While nuclear energy is well known for having a lot of potential, the safety risks associated with it have historically concerned some investors; however, Gates said he's confident TerraPower can build an innovative nuclear reactor that is safe and practical for the future.

Most nuclear reactors in the U.S. use water to cool the system, but water is not the best at absorbing heat, and there are pressure risks associated with overheating, which could eventually lead to a meltdown. This new reactor, which is set to open in 2030, will use liquid sodium instead of water to cool it. Sodium's boiling point is eight times higher than water, and, unlike water, liquid sodium does not need to be continually pumped back into the system.

"We've solved all the areas where there have been safety challenges. And we have dramatically less waste," Gates said. "A great thing is that the regulator in the United States is the best in the world and they do a very good job. So part of the process between now and 2030 is an immensely detailed review with that safety commission about how this design is far safer than anything that came before."

The new plant, which has been in the works for 15 years, faced delays at the end of 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of that year resulted in the loss of a special fuel source made in Russia. But Gates assured these issues are temporary.

MORE: Bill and Melinda Gates join global fight against COVID-19

"A lot of uranium mines and processing factories got shut down because people expected Russia to stay as a supplier. We do need to build that up domestically," Gates said. "But we have uranium domestically. We have the ability to do the processing domestically... In the long run, because of our uranium deposits here, because of the efficiency of the reactor, this thing can have a completely domestic supply chain."

Kemmerer, once the site of a booming coal industry, has since seen a decline in recent years, with the coal plant scheduled to shut down after operating for almost 60 years. Gates emphasized the importance of reintegrating older energy industries of the U.S. into future energy industries as a way of revitalizing communities. The nuclear plant plans to employ hundreds of construction workers and previous employees from the coal plant where skills overlap, while providing energy to hundreds of thousands of homes, the TerraPower said in a recent press release .

Gates on artificial intelligence

Gates also spoke with ABC News about his opinions on AI and what it means for the future of the world. He said he views the technology as game-changing, saying "It's pretty fundamental."

"We're often surprised how good it is. Sometimes we're surprised at what it can't do right. Early days, but revolutionary," Gates said.

He said he sees big potential for AI to create shockwaves in all industries where it will change the way we think about things.

"In health and education, used properly, it will be fantastic," Gates said. "That's a big deal. Improving education, you know, making sure students who are not in private schools or even suburban schools, that they have this way of getting great feedback. You know, I'm excited."

Gates also said how impressed he was at OpenAI's ChatGPT software and the leaps it had made within the last year, telling ABC News: "I was surprised last year that going from GPT-3 to GPT-4, it improved so much."

MORE: Bill Gates criticizes Elizabeth Warren's proposed tax policy

The risk of AI safety has also been on Gates' mind, he said, and he voiced some of his concerns regarding the rapid advance of the technology and the negative consequences if it were to be used with bad intentions.

"We're all scared a bad guy could grab it," Gates said, adding: "If you just pause the good guys, and you don't pause everyone else, you're probably hurting yourself."

And while Gates said he doesn't believe government regulators are up to speed about the technology and prepared to make big decisions yet, he does believe that the pros of AI outweigh the cons and that the conversation around it is headed in the right direction.

"The field, more than any field I know, is actually putting in a lot of the smart people into, OK, what comes next and how do we make sure that's beneficial," Gates said. "I see the AI, used properly, is providing a lot of benefits that, no, I wouldn't want to throw those away."

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Bill Gates-backed company seeks permit for advanced nuclear reactor

By Zach Bright | 03/20/2024 07:00 AM EDT

TerraPower is taking steps to build a nuclear plant in Wyoming.

Nuclear startup TerraPower has chosen a site near the Naughton coal plant (pictured) in Wyoming as the site for the company's proposed Natrium reactor demonstration project. Natalie Behring/AP

The first U.S. advanced nuclear power plant could be under construction in Wyoming in June, a company backed by billionaire Bill Gates said Tuesday.

TerraPower plans to ask federal regulators for a construction permit by the end of March and start building parts of the plant this June, according to Chief Financial Officer Marcia Burkey.

The move will be crucial for TerraPower and advanced nuclear developers like it to bring a fleet of next-generation reactors online. Developers argue that the reactors — often smaller than traditional nuclear units — will help meet the country’s push for carbon-free power.

But some projects have stumbled, leaving nuclear backers waiting for a company to open the first U.S. commercial advanced reactor.

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Earth to CNN: No, a nuclear-powered superyacht won’t save the world

By Dawn Stover | September 28, 2021

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Who knew that a sexy nuclear superyacht could save us from climate catastrophe? That was the awesome news from CNN’s travel desk yesterday.

CNN wasn’t alone. Forbes , BBC Science Focus Magazine , and a host of other media outlets have previously hailed the world-rescuing potential of what CNN described as “an emissions-free megaship that will pit together climate scientists and the wealthy in a daring quest to save the planet.”

“Pit together” sounds like an apt description of a would-be merger between luxury tourism and climate action. You can put those two things together in a sentence, but in the real world they mix about as easily as oil and water.

And there’s another big problem with the plan for this overhyped 300-meter-long vessel and its global research: Earth 300 , as the $700 million superyacht is called, will be powered by a molten salt nuclear reactor that doesn’t exist yet and won’t be certified for at least five years. The company’s website illustrates the reactor with a scale model of an experiment done in the 1960s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The website also says the scientists onboard Earth 300 will have the world’s first ocean-going quantum computer. But that, too, has yet to be built.

Meanwhile, the climate crisis needs immediate attention. “We really are out of time,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned this month.

While they wait for a modular nuclear reactor that might never come, the developers of Earth 300 say they will use green synthetic fuels. These are liquid fuels derived from coal or natural gas in a process that captures carbon. However, they are much more expensive than fossil fuels. Aaron Olivera, the entrepreneur behind Earth 300 , told CNN he plans to “eventually” retrofit the yacht with a reactor being developed by the UK company Core Power in collaboration with TerraPower, a US nuclear engineering firm chaired by Bill Gates.

Globally, there are at least 171 motorized megayachts that are 75 meters (246 feet) or more in length. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is rumored to be buying a superyacht so big that it will have a dock for its own “support yacht.” Eclipse , an even bigger superyacht owned by Russian-Israeli billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich, has its own missile defense system. The largest yacht currently operating, Azzam , is 180 meters (590 feet) long and consumes 13 metric tons of fuel per hour at its top speed of 33 knots. That’s about 0.01 miles (or a little over 50 feet) per gallon.

Earth 300 would be much bigger.

And the customers Olivera would like to attract—the wealthiest people in the world—also tend to have the world’s largest carbon footprints, thanks in no small part to their habit of traveling aboard superyachts and private airplanes. According to calculations by two researchers at Indiana University , a superyacht with a permanent crew and helicopter pad is “by far the worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint.”

Earth 300 ’s luxury suites will each rent for $300,000 a day, which presumably will cover the personnel and expenses needed to operate the ship and its 22 scientific laboratories. But construction won’t begin until 2025 at the earliest, and any groundbreaking scientific discoveries or billionaire epiphanies that could help stabilize the climate are even further into the future.

Construction is already delayed on another 600-foot-long yacht that will combine climate research with charters for paying customers. Financed by Kjell Inge Røkke, a Norwegian billionaire who made his fortune in fishing and oil drilling, REV Ocean will investigate climate change and ocean acidification, plastic pollution, and overfishing, but the nonprofit project is at least three years behind schedule.

Who will be aboard these superyachts? CNN asked Olivera which famous people he’d like to host on his future ship, and he named Elon Musk, Michelle Obama, Greta Thunberg, Naomi Klein and Yvon Chouinard. Like the superyacht itself, some of those potential guests seem more aspirational than realistic.

Wealthiest 1% produce double the combined CO2 emissions of poorest 50%. "We have got to cut over-consumption and the best place to start is over-consumption among the polluting elites who contribute by far more than their share of carbon emissions." https://t.co/0bEwESnE9O — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) April 13, 2021

Greta Thunberg doesn’t take airplanes or motor yachts. Elon Musk doesn’t take vacations. And Bill Gates may be hurt that he’s not on the A-list.

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Keywords: CNN , Earth 300 , superyachts Topics: Climate Change , Columnists , Nuclear Energy , Nuclear Risk , Opinion

An absurd idea, the money much better spent on more prosaic but proven solutions like promoting regen Agriculture. If they start to ask for shares, we know it is something else … PS Don’t knock LFTRs.

think “Snowpiercer”!

(But rather than a train running on and on thru a frozen wasteland, we get yachts sailing on and on upon oceans of warmed-up water.)

I think the true purpose of such a super yacht is as a literal show boat for promoting the so-called ‘green’ liquid biofuel(s). For such a project to be taken seriously, its entire construction should not consume any drop, gram or Pascal of any carbon based fuel. The recycling, mining, smelting, casting, any materials processing, transportation of raw materials and components, then systems integration, final assembly and super yacht launching should be done with completely renewable energy sources. Initially the propulsion system should be powered with Perovskite Solar Cell based Photo-Voltaic panels and Icelandic design wind power generators with high …  Read more »

As a follow up to my previous comment (which I couldn’t add because my editing time window expired) was: One prominent type of salt under investigation (also potentially for use in LFTR) is FLiBe, which was the subject of a March 1999 research paper by Lockeed Martin sponsored researchers L. C. Cadwallader and G. R. Longhurst as a potential plasma facing coolant for Thermonuclear Fusion Reactors. This paper explores to a good level of detail, the Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety issues to be addressed when working with FLiBe salt. This is one area of investigation that may benefit …  Read more »

We have carbon free ships. They are powered by sail.

Dawn Stover

Dawn Stover is a contributing editor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. She began her career at Harper's magazine and worked... Read More

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Bill Gates' TerraPower Ready to Build New U.S. Nuclear Power Plant

A group established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates is preparing to begin construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants in June, according to the company’s chief executive.

Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, on March 18 said the company is ready to move forward with work on its Natrium reactor at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The group has received about $1 billion in private funding, with the U.S. government reportedly supporting the Wyoming project with as much as $2 billion.

Levesque told the Financial Times newspaper that construction work for the power plant would start in June, even if the company has not received a permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Levesque said much of the early work would not be related to nuclear activity, but rather to the design of the reactor. He said TerraPower hopes to have the plant enter commercial operation in 2030.

Liquid Sodium as Coolant

The Natrium reactor design will use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water. Levesque told the Financial Times , “When you use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water it’s a game-changer. Natrium plants will cost half of what light water reactor plants cost . . . and we are moving our project along pretty aggressively.”

Levesque has said the high boiling point of almost 900C for the liquid metal would bring major cost savings compared with using water.

U.S. utility Southern Co. in November of last year said it had agreed to design and build an advanced demonstration nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using technology developed by TerraPower. Southern said it would build a molten-chloride reactor at INL. The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has said it would provide a five-year grant to cover 80% of the $170 million project at INL, with the rest coming from Southern, TerraPower, and other investors.

Southern Co. and TerraPower were awarded about $40 million from DOE through a public-private partnership in 2015. The money was earmarked for construction of  integrated infrastructure necessary to support early development of molten chloride fast reactor, or MCFR, technology.

TerraPower in December of last year signed an agreement with Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. That deal is designed for TerraPower to explore not only the use of its Natrium reactors to generate electricity in the United Arab Emirates, but also to produce hydrogen.

Small Reactors

TerraPower is among several groups working on a new generation of small nuclear reactors, including micro-reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs). Most of the SMRs in development would have a generation capacity of 300 MW or less. Most newer utility-scale reactors can generate 1,000 MW of power or more, such as the two units that recently entered commercial operation at Plant Vogtle in Georgia as part of an expansion there.

Energy analysts have told POWER that large-scale deployment of SMRs faces several challenges, both economic and regulatory as well as technical. Most are in agreement that government support will be needed to support new projects.

An example of the challenges is provided by Oregon-based NuScale. The company was dealt a blow to its operations with the November 2023 cancellation of a flagship project the group had planned with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems. NuScale, founded in 2007, was the first U.S.-based SMR maker with NRC approval for its technology. The company reduced its workforce earlier this year as part of a restructuring.

There are just two SMRs deployed to date worldwide . Russia has a floating power plant, using a KLT-40S, a pressurized water reactor developed in that country. Those units are on board the Akademik Lomonosov , which is the world’s first purpose-built floating nuclear power plant.

China National Nuclear Corp. in December of last year said it had started commercial operation of the high-temperature gas-cooled modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) reactor demonstrator. The HTR-PM project is located in Rongcheng, Shandong Province, about midway between Beijing and Shanghai in eastern China.

The HTR-PM is touted as the world’s first commercially operational modular nuclear power plant with fourth-generation nuclear technology.

Demonstration Project

TerraPower has said the Kemmerer reactor would serve as a demonstration project, eventually serving as a full-scale commercial facility once complete. TerraPower and utility partner PacifiCorp, which is part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, in October 2022 said the companies could deploy as many as five Natrium reactors by 2035 , if the technology proves feasible.

The Natrium reactor, which has been developed by TerraPower along with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy , is a bit larger than most SMRs, with a generation capacity of 345 MW. The reactor also includes a molten salt-based energy storage system (ESS). TerraPower has said the ESS could increase the power output to 500 MW for a period of more than five-and-a-half hours if needed.

Levesque said, “We’re storing the heat in big tanks of molten salt, like solar plants, and that’s a big thermal battery. A plant like Natrium that can just flex very quickly with that built-in energy storage makes it very valuable.”

— Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER ( @POWERmagazine ).

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Bill Gates-founded energy company set to construct $3 billion nuclear power plant in Wyoming that could be operational by 2030

• The company plans to start building in June, with or without necessary permits 
• Liquid sodium cooling make the reactor cheaper than the usual water cooling
• Gates co-founded the company to privately develop 'advanced nuclear energy'
• READ MORE: Holy grail of nuclear fusion is one step closer as reactor turned on

A power company co-founded by Microsoft 's Bill Gates has announced plans to begin building a new type of nuclear power plant in the US this summer.

TerraPower revealed it plans to apply for the necessary permits this month to start construction on a next-generation nuclear reactor at the start of June in Kemmerer, Wyoming .

The Washington-based firm has received an estimated $1 billion in funding from private investors, which will be combined with a promised $2 billion from the US government.  

The reactor is unique in the world of nuclear power, as it is cooled with liquid sodium rather than water - an efficient strategy, but one that has proven dangerous in some cases because of sodium's explosive reaction if it touches water.

TerraPower's announcement puts it in a nuclear energy race against Russia and China . 

READ MORE: A look inside the Fukushima reactor, 13 years later

Eerie drone footage reveals first ever look at melted nuclear reactor with 880 tonnes of radioactive fuel still inside.

The two superpowers are working to develop and export cheaper reactors, and the Natrium one represents TerraPower's attempt to enter that market, the  Financial Times reported.

In December, the company inked an agreement with Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.

That deal will see TerraPower exploring the use of its Natrium reactors to not only generate electricity in the United Arab Emirates, but also produce hydrogen - a notoriously energy-hungry process.

TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque told FT that they plan to apply this month for the necessary permits to begin construction in June, but whether or not the company has received approval yet, they will begin building then.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in charge of approving construction of new nuclear powerplants. 

The next-generation reactor, called 'Natrium,' can be built for half the cost of water-cooled ones, the standard nuclear power technology for decades, Levesque said. 

Because of the design of the Natrium reactor, most of the initial phase of construction will not involve any reactor parts per se, but will rather focus on support structures.

According to the company's website: 'TerraPower was founded by Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries that decided the private sector needed to take action in developing advanced nuclear energy to meet growing electricity needs, mitigate climate change and lift billions out of poverty.'

Nuclear power does not have the same issues with carbon emissions that other powerplants do, especially coal.

But it does present new problems, as spent nuclear waste is dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. 

There has not been a sodium-cooled reactor in the US since several experimental reactors were attempted in the 1960s and 1970s. 

After several failures, including a partial meltdown of the Fermi 1 in Michigan in 1966, all of these reactors were decommissioned, and most were replaced with conventional boiling water reactors.

In 1995 the Monju Nuclear Powerplant in Japan suffered a fire as a result of a sodium leak in its cooling system.

The ensuing coverup, involving falsified reports and edited video footage of the accident, was so disgraceful that government investigator Shigeo Nishimura took his own life after uncovering it.

'When you use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water it's a game-changer,' Levesque told FT, noting that since it boils at almost 900C it can be operated much more cheaply than water-cooled reactors.

'Natrium plants will cost half of what light water reactor plants cost . . . and we are moving our project along pretty aggressively,' he said. 

The reactor in Wyoming will be a demonstration project, but upon completion it will become a commercial power provider, TerraPower claimed.

The plant is scheduled to be operational by 2030. 

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A Bill Gates company is about to start building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming

TerraPower, which Bill Gates founded, plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the US.

CEO Chris Levesque told the Financial Times it wants to start work on a site in Wyoming in June.

TerraPower says its reactor design is cheaper because they're cooled by liquid sodium, not water.

A company cofounded by Bill Gates is about to start building next-generation nuclear power plants in the US.

Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, told the Financial Times that his firm will start building at a site near a coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming in June, even if it hasn't received a construction permit from regulators by then.

The company plans to bring the nuclear plant online in 2030, he added.

TerraPower, which has raised $1 billion from backers, will use liquid sodium rather than water to cool its Natrium reactors, making them cheaper to run.

Most of the initial work at the Kemmerer site won't be related to nuclear activity, Levesque said.

"When you use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water it's a game changer," he told the FT.

"Natrium plants will cost half of what light water reactor plants cost … and we are moving our project along pretty aggressively."

Gates helped found TerraPower in 2006 and has been its chairman since then. The company has said its aim is to provide the world with a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy.

Its Natrium reactor is expected to cost $4 billion, with about half the cost being met by the Department of Energy. CRV and Khosla Ventures are among the company's VC backers, Reuters reported .

While Russian and Chinese state-controlled companies have already managed to launch smaller nuclear reactors, progress in developing similar tech in the US has stalled in recent years.

High interest rates have made it tougher for startups to draw in funding, while Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion from financial markets has made it tougher for companies to get the uranium needed for their reactors.

In December 2022, TerraPower pushed back the launch of its flagship project by at least two years, which Levesque attributed to the war in Ukraine hitting supplies of high-assay, low-enriched uranium .

In October last year TerraPower missed out on making the shortlisted for the next round of the UK government's competition for small nuclear plants. Rolls-Royce is one of the leading contenders with its small modular reactor (SMR) designs and has already secured more than £200m of government funding in Britain.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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The AI industry is pushing a nuclear power revival — partly to fuel itself

Tech firms and Silicon Valley billionaires have been pouring money into nuclear energy for years, pitching the sustainable power source as crucial to the green transition. Now they have another incentive to promote it: artificial intelligence.

While generative AI has grown at lightning speed, nuclear power projects are heavily regulated and usually advance at a plodding pace. That’s raising questions about whether advances in nuclear energy can cut emissions as swiftly as energy-guzzling AI and other fast-growing technologies are adding to them.

“If you were to integrate large language models, GPT-style models into search engines, it’s going to cost five times as much environmentally as standard search,” said Sarah Myers West, managing director of the AI Now Institute, a research group focused on the social impacts of AI. At current growth rates, some new AI servers could soon gobble up more than 85 terawatt hours of electricity each year, researchers have estimated — more than some small nations’ annual energy consumption.

“I want to see innovation in this country,” Myers West said. “I just want the scope of innovation to be determined beyond the incentive structures of these giant companies.”

Oklo is one of the nuclear startups backed by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI who has described AI and cheap, green energy as mutually reinforcing essentials to achieving a future marked by “abundance.”

“Fundamentally today in the world, the two limiting commodities you see everywhere are intelligence, which we’re trying to work on with AI, and energy,” he told CNBC in 2021 after investing $375 million in Helion Energy , a nuclear fusion startup that Altman chairs. Microsoft last year agreed to buy power from Helion starting in 2028. Oklo, which Altman also chairs, is focused on the opposite reaction, fission, which generates energy by splitting an atom; fusion does so by merging atomic nuclei.

Representatives for Altman, through his special acquisition company AltC, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In rural southeastern Idaho, Oklo is working to build a small-scale nuclear powerhouse that could fuel data centers like the ones OpenAI and its competitors need. But the company also wants to supply mixed-use communities and industrial facilities, and is already contracted to build two commercial plants in southern Ohio.

As the United States moves toward wide-scale electric vehicle adoption and decarbonization, “the amount of energy we’re going to need to do that is huge,” said Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte. “Also heating and cooking — if we want to electrify those processes, you’re going to need even more.”

Oklo has found getting regulators on board harder than finding potential customers.

In 2022, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees commercial nuclear power plants and materials, denied the company’s application for the design of its Idaho “Aurora” powerhouse, saying it hadn’t provided enough safety information. In October, the Air Force rescinded its intent to award a contract for a microreactor pilot program to power a base in Alaska.

“You’ve got new physics, you have to use new models. You have to do all sorts of stuff that’s different than what they’re used to,” DeWitte said of the NRC. Oklo is now working to satisfy regulators, he said, acknowledging agency officials must “do their independent job of ensuring this meets adequate safety requirements.”

Oklo’s proposed 13,000-square-foot Aurora powerhouse, featuring a 15-megawatt fission reactor, is smaller than earlier plants and looks more like a sleek ski chalet than the Cold War-era ones with their iconic curved towers. The plant set to be built at the Idaho National Laboratory, a research facility where Oklo has been given an Energy Department grant to test recycling nuclear waste into new fuel. DeWitte says the design is safer, too, citing the use of liquid metal as a coolant rather than water.

The nuclear power industry hasn’t meaningfully expanded its share of the U.S. energy mix for decades. It has chugged along despite popular opposition fueled by infrequent but devastating accidents like those in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986 and in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. Even the newest nuclear plants still generate waste that can remain dangerously radioactive for centuries, raising the need for effective disposal or recycling efforts like the one Oklo is testing.

But as the climate crisis accelerates, most Americans now support expanding nuclear energy — 57%, up from 43% in 2020, a Pew Research survey found last year. Nuclear power currently makes up only 19% of the nation’s overall energy generation , with 93 commercial reactors operating today, down from a peak of 112 in 1990. By one estimate, up to 800 gigawatts of new nuclear power will be needed by 2050 to meet current green energy targets.

But as tech firms sprint toward AI, many data centers are already struggling to add capacity fast enough to remain affordable, with data center rents jumping nearly 16% between 2022 and last year alone. The demand crunch is one reason major industry players have been ramping up their nuclear investments.

Microsoft signed a deal last summer with Constellation, a top nuclear power plant operator, to add nuclear-generated electricity to its Virginia data centers. The year before, Google took part in a $250 million fundraising round for the fusion startup TAE Technologies. And in late 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other investors raised over $130 million for Canadian nuclear company General Fusion.

For tech firms, it makes sense to tap directly into nuclear plants “instead of sourcing electricity from the grid,” said Ross Matzkin-Bridger, a senior director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit group focused on reducing nuclear and biological risks. In addition to being clean, he noted, many recent nuclear projects are also compact. “You can fit a lot more energy per acre in nuclear energy than you can with any other technology,” he said.

Beyond Silicon Valley, “big investment firms are actually starting to believe that this is going to take off,” said Ayan Paul, a research scientist at Northeastern University who studies AI. “People have started to believe that these kinds of energies are going to fuel our population.”

But some experts warn that efforts to expand nuclear power shouldn’t be rushed, no matter how fast demand is growing.

“We need nuclear power to get to a low-carbon future,” said Ahmed Abdulla, assistant mechanical and aerospace engineering professor at Carleton University. But for engineering projects that have historically taken decades, the regulatory process needs to be a methodical one, he said: “There is a chance to make serious mistakes if we sprint to the goal.”

Bella Aldrete is an intern with NBC News' business and technology unit.

Jacob Ward, a technology correspondent for NBC News, is a 2018-19 Berggruen Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, where he is writing a book about how artificial intelligence will shape human behavior. 

Emily Pandise is a business/economy producer for NBC News.