TerraPower's edge in AI datacenter deals is a molten salt battery, not the reactor

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TerraPower's Natrium design delivers 345 MW of baseload and can ramp to 500 MW for more than five hours using integrated molten salt thermal storage that absorbs heat during low demand and releases it during spikes, roughly 45% above baseload without burning more fuel. That load-following profile is what datacenter operators actually need from a nuclear contract, and it is the pitch behind Meta's January 2026 agreement for up to eight Natrium units at about 2.8 GW baseload and roughly 4 GW effective. Kemmerer Unit 1 in Wyoming is under construction after NRC permit approval in April 2026, and TerraPower says it will name a datacenter-specific project before year end.