# NextEra-TerraPower Natrium Partnership

**Type:** Strategic partnership for advanced nuclear deployment  
**Announced:** Final months of 2025, formalized by April 2026  
**Scale:** 2.5-3 GW Natrium reactor deployment  
**Capital:** $15-20 billion projected capex  
**Offtakers:** Google and Microsoft AI datacenters  

## Overview

NextEra Energy and TerraPower formed a partnership to deploy 2.5-3 GW of Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactors specifically to power Google and Microsoft AI datacenters. This represents one of the largest advanced nuclear commitments in the AI-driven nuclear renaissance.

## Technology

**Natrium Reactor Specifications:**
- 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor base capacity
- Integrated molten salt energy storage system
- Can boost output to 500 MW during peak demand
- First advanced nuclear plant to receive NRC Environmental Impact Statement for commercial deployment

## Target Sites

- **Duane Arnold, Iowa:** Existing nuclear facility site, considered a regulatory bellwether for SMR licensing
- **Southeast US locations:** Additional sites under evaluation

The Duane Arnold site selection is strategically significant as it leverages an existing licensed nuclear site, potentially accelerating regulatory approval compared to greenfield deployment.

## Economics

- Capital cost: Approximately $5-8 billion per GW
- 3-5x higher capex than renewables (solar ~$1-2B/GW, wind ~$1.5-2.5B/GW)
- Provides firm dispatchable power with integrated storage

## Timeline

- **2025 Q4:** Partnership formalized
- **2026 Q2:** Site selection phase, environmental impact assessments and detailed engineering underway
- **2026+:** Regulatory filings expected

## Strategic Significance

Investors have characterized Duane Arnold's success as determining "the pace of SMR licensing for the next decade," making this partnership a critical test case for advanced reactor deployment at existing nuclear sites.

## Sources

- MarketMinute / FinancialContent, April 8, 2026
- TerraPower official announcements
- World Nuclear News coverage