Dive Brief:
- Bechtel, one of the largest contractors in the U.S. by revenue, has moved on from work on nuclear energy firm TerraPower’s high-profile Natrium Demonstration Project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and plans to lay off approximately 200 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state of Virginia.
- The split occurred as Bechtel and TerraPower couldn’t agree on a way to move forward to the next phase of the project, per the WARN notice.
- The affected employees will be laid off on or around Nov. 16, according to the notice. Bechtel will aim to help these employees find new positions on other projects, which may reduce the total number of laid-off workers. For those who don’t find other positions, the layoffs will be permanent.
Dive Insight:
The Natrium Demonstration Project is an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium as a coolant instead of water. Bechtel broke ground on the project in 2024 for TerraPower, which is chaired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. It began construction on Unit 1 in 2026, according to the contractor.
On Aug. 31, TerraPower announced 12 new supplier awards for the project, according to a news release.
Molly Edwards, head of global media relations for Bechtel, told Construction Dive via email that the firm planned to move many of the impacted employees to other nuclear projects in its worldwide construction portfolio. The company was legally required to file the WARN notices, but Edwards said Bechtel anticipates few actual layoffs.
“Given the significant work underway across our company and the depth of expertise these employees bring, we anticipate redeploying many of them to projects where their skills are needed most, including the nuclear facilities we are building globally,” Edwards said. The affected employees work at Bechtel’s expanded headquarters in Reston, Virginia, which it subleased earlier this year per the Washington Business Journal.
Bechtel’s other nuclear work includes the $5.4 billion Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which Bechtel won in 2025, and the AP1000 nuclear power plant in Poland. Previously, Bechtel also built Vogtle Unit 3 in Georgia, the first new atomic power unit built in more than 30 years, which finished in 2023.
The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the North American Building Trades Unions in May to modernize apprenticeship programs for nuclear construction jobs.
