Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
TerraPower, the nuclear energy developer founded by Bill Gates, closed a $750 million equity raise, the company said Monday.
Why it matters: TerraPower is among the handful of companies racing to build a small modular reactor and other nuclear technologies, including "nuclear medicine."
The details: Bill Gates co-led the round, along with the South Korean holding company SK Inc. and its sister company, SK Innovation, an energy conglomerate.
- The SK companies invested $250 million, TerraPower said. The two are part of SK Group, among South Korea's largest energy companies.
Zoom out: TerraPower is building a $4 billion, 345-MW demonstration reactor at a former coal-fired power station in Wyoming.
- Other U.S. companies pursuing small modular reactors, or SMRs: NuScale, Holtec and GE Hitachi.
Catch up fast: SMRs typically generate up to around 300 MW, about a third of the electricity of a traditional nuclear plant.
- They're small enough to be assembled in a factory and then transported.
- And they're seen as posing fewer safety risks and producing less waste.
