Bill Gates says US must be willing to ‘outinnovate’ foreign competitors in nuclear energy

Editor’s note: This report has been updated to correct the name of the company constructing a nuclear power plant in Wyoming.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates argued that the United States should be willing to “outinnovate” foreign adversaries in the nuclear energy sector.

Gates, who appeared on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said he thinks Americans should value that the U.S. needs to be a leader in nuclear energy because “you really don’t want the nuclear reactors around the world made by your adversaries.”

His interview follows the news that his nuclear power company, Terrapower, moved forward with construction on a nuclear power plant in Wyoming.

CBS’s Margaret Brennan pressed Gates on whether the nuclear plant will rely on uranium from Russia. Gates said Congress recently passed a bill that will put funding in places other than Moscow’s pocket, and the company will have a supplier in the United Kingdom and South Africa and will mine for Uranium in America.

The billionaire argued that Americans should want nuclear energy produced in the United States because “economically, it’s a huge job creator,” and the materials used in the reactors should be closely monitored and should not be “feeding into” foreign military activity.

“So, the U.S. leadership in this space has a lot of strategic benefits,” he said, namely the amount of jobs it will take to construct the plants and get them going in the next half decade.

Brennan asked Gates if he is worried about what could happen to this energy source and its goals for the country if former President Trump is reelected and repeals the Inflation Reduction Act, which expands support for nuclear power.

Gates said he has worked with both Democrats and Republicans on the issue and said there is “impressive” bipartisan support.

Republicans, he said, support not outsourcing energy for security reasons and adding jobs to the country. Democrats value that it’s a clean energy source that moves away from fossil fuels.

Gates noted that many nuclear energy plans are focused on red states like West Virginia, Wyoming and Texas.

“The more that happens, the more you’ll probably see bipartisan support,” he said.

He continued, noting that depending on which party controls Congress and the White House, he may have to “make the case again” for why nuclear energy can benefit the United States, but no matter how the election turns out, he believes a lot of the energy-related provisions passed by Democrats in recent years “probably will survive.”

Updated on June 18 at 8:33 a.m. EDT