Engineers in Wyoming have installed a full-scale digital simulator to prepare operators for a new class of nuclear power plant.

The equipment arrived at the Kemmerer construction site for Bill Gates-backed TerraPower’s Natrium reactor. Built by Curtiss-Wright, the system acts as an exact digital twin of the future facility. It gives technicians their first hands-on access to the plant’s controls well before the reactor goes live in 2030.

Training operators early is a critical hurdle for any non-traditional nuclear design. The simulator runs on a software engine called 3KEYMASTER, which models physics in real time. It calculates how fluids circulate, how temperatures shift, and how the core behaves during unexpected equipment trips. Operators can rehearse emergency drills, test automated safety actions, and log the hours required for federal operating licenses.

At the same time, the system doubles as a testbed for engineers. Curtiss-Wright is also building the plant’s physical brain—its Distributed Control Systems and automated Reactor Protection System. By running those control programs through the simulator, technicians can identify software bugs and verify hardware responses years ahead of fuel loading.

The facility itself operates differently from standard commercial reactors. Most nuclear plants in the United States use light water under intense pressure to cool their cores. The Natrium design uses liquid metal sodium instead. Liquid sodium carries heat efficiently while remaining a liquid at very high temperatures. 

Because it boils at nearly 900°C, the system operates at close to normal atmospheric pressure. This removes the need for the massive, thick-walled containment domes that define conventional nuclear stations.

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