Inside a company making nuclear reactors the size of a shipping container

The volatility of energy prices has been the main energy story of late. But if we zoom out — to before the war and subsequent energy shock — there’s a slice of the energy economy that’s been experiencing a comeback: nuclear.

Billions of dollars in investment are flowing into new nuclear companies, in no small part because AI and data centers are increasing the overall amount of energy this economy will need over the coming years.

Earlier this week, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal visited Radiant Nuclear headquarters in El Segundo, California.

“We’re working on building nuclear reactors you can actually make in a factory,” said Radiant CEO Doug Bernauer. “For our first reactor, it’s a one-megawatt electric generator. It’s enough power for about 1,000 homes.”

This reactor — Radiant’s first — is a nuclear microreactor. It’s designed to fit in a shipping container. Bernauer thinks of it as a replacement for a diesel generator.

“Our customers are those who want to operate at a hospital or a military base or a data center somewhere and the grid isn’t there yet or is not reliable enough,” he said.

Radiant’s microreactor was selected by the Department of Energy for testing at the Idaho National Lab, a DOE complex with a long history of nuclear research and testing. Bernauer told Ryssdal that the demonstration unit he was looking at will be shipped out in the next few months for testing this summer.

“Government support is extremely important,” said Bernauer. “It has been and will be always, I think, for nuclear.”

The data center company Equinix has pre-ordered 20 of Radiant’s microreactors. Radiant has also announced an agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit and the Air Force to deliver one of its microreactors to an American military base.

Bernauer said he expects Radiant’s first microreactors will be commercially available by 2028 at the latest.

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