Bellevue, WA – February 19, 2026 – TerraPower President and CEO, Chris Levesque, issued a statement on the acceptance of the Natrium® reactor1 into the United Kingdom‘s Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process:
"We are incredibly pleased to have our application accepted into the UK’s Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. TerraPower prides itself on its technical rigor, and we will bring our industry-leading team and robust regulatory experience to support this review. We look forward to working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and Environment Agency (EA) in the coming months, and ultimately advancing our efforts to bring a Natrium reactor to the United Kingdom,” said Chris Levesque, TerraPower President and CEO.
TerraPower submitted the GDA application in October 2025. This is the company’s first regulatory filing for the Natrium plant in an international market.
About the Natrium Reactor
The Natrium technology features a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MWe of power when needed as it is designed to keep base output steady, ensuring constant reliability and can quickly ramp up when demand peaks — it is the only advanced reactor design with this unique feature.
The first Natrium project is being developed in the United States through a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. TerraPower began construction on the non-nuclear portions of the site in June 2024. When completed, the Natrium plant will be the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States.
About TerraPower
TerraPower is a leading nuclear innovation company that strives to improve the world through nuclear energy and science. Since it was founded by Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries, TerraPower has emerged as an incubator and developer of ideas and technologies that offer energy independence, environmental sustainability, medical advancement and other cutting-edge opportunities. It accepts and tackles some of the world’s most difficult challenges. Behind each of its innovations and programs, TerraPower actively works to bring together the strengths and experiences of the world’s public and private sectors to answer pressing global needs. Learn more at terrapower.com.
Media Contacts
press@terrapower.com
1The Natrium reactor is a TerraPower and GE-Hitachi technology
