In the southwest Wyoming desert, TerraPower’s Andy Chrusciel wore a hard hat, waving vehicles and people around.

“Now we got to try to keep from getting you run over,” he joked. 

They are standing up a building that, by this time next year, will house a nuclear power plant training center.

“By the time this building’s complete, we'll have maybe 60-75 operators lined up to be trained,” Chrusciel said. 

Demand for U.S. electricity is expected to explode over the coming years. But where all that power is gonna come from is unsettled. And that has opened the door to more nuclear energy. 

Many in that camp are looking to TerraPower’s first of its kind project that Bill Gates has thrown a billion dollars behind. Gates came to the project site last year to sink a spade into the dirt as part of the official groundbreaking. It is slated to open in 2030, near a rural Wyoming town that is struggling to meet its infrastructure needs.

But on this day, it still looks like a construction site. Several dozen workers operate bulldozers and push around big piles of dirt.

“Alright, well done fellas,” Chrusciel yelled out. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon came to see the progress, too. Wearing a cowboy hat, Gordon said he is excited about the flurry of activity.

“We are adding to the energy matrix,” he said in a make-shift onsite conference room. Gordon added that nuclear, gas, wind and coal — it’s all needed.

“There's so much more demand for electricity, it really has exploded,” he said. 

The multi-billion dollar power plant will use a novel technology that the company claims is safer and smaller than traditional nuclear plants. Gordon said even lawmakers in D.C. recognize “how important this is for the country, it's really nice to hear Wyoming is such a prominent mover and shaker and leader in that space.” 

And Kemmerer is a sort of test case. A nearby old coal town all too familiar with the boom-and-bust cycle. That is actually why Brian Muir was brought on six years ago as city administrator, to help stabilize the local economy. 

“I didn't know the governor was coming to town. I'd like to talk to that guy myself — he's probably too busy for me,” Muir said with a chuckle. 

Talk to the Governor because Muir is still solving the puzzle of Kemmerer’s future. The nuclear plant is key. 

“Very enthusiastic for this, and it's very much needed,” he said. 

Needed, because just a few miles down the highway is Kemmerer’s lifeblood. A coal-fired power plant that’s slated to fully switch to natural gas at the end of the year, putting in question the future of the local coal mine and its roughly 160 miners. 

“So those jobs are at risk, I would say. Yeah, a lot of them are at risk,” Muir said. 

Ideally the nuclear industry will absorb those workers, as the plant will need about 250 employees. But it could take a few years. And while Muir is grateful for the incoming new jobs and growth to Kemmerer, it is also a big stress. That is because the state legislature slashed property taxes this year, which means town revenues dropped. 

“Well, we've lost tens of thousands of dollars that are not in our budget anymore, and so it makes it harder to provide the services that people need,” Muir said.   

This rural community needs about $10 million in road repairs, plus a new wastewater treatment plant with a price tag of at least $45 million. Muir is unclear how the town will pay for it.

“You know, there's more need than there is revenue,” he said.  

Muir added that these are bottom line infrastructure needs for Kemmerer to grow. And all that work has to happen before Bill Gates’ nuclear power plant can take off in this little town in the sagebrush.