The NRC and DoE have updated their 2019 memorandum of understanding to accelerate licensing for advanced reactors and fuel facilities already authorized and tested by the DOE.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has canceled its November 19 advanced reactor stakeholder meeting amid the ongoing government shutdown, warning that extended furloughs could slow reactor reviews and raise project costs.
Holtec is close to restarting the Palisades Nuclear Plant, the first U.S. reactor to return from decommissioning, restoring jobs and clean power to Michigan...
Growing Energy demand provided demand pull for both traditional and next-generation reactors throughout Q3 of 2025. Yet further boosting momentum was the announcement by the DOE that they had selected ten ventures for accelerated design review of a test unit. This has lit a fire under those and other ventures already making progress to try to get the DOE to allow them to build something by July 4, 2026.
DOE has named 10 advanced reactor teams—including Aalo and Radiant—for accelerated licensing reviews as part of a pilot program to get three test reactors running...
Regulatory reforms and fuel innovations are accelerating America’s nuclear revival — with Radiant, Aalo, and Deep Isolation in the mix...
In a major policy shift, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved new guidance that allows microreactors to be fueled and tested in factories. This could significantly accelerate deployment timelines for advanced nuclear startups.
Outlined in a June 17 memo, the policy allows:
Fuel to be loaded at the factory, as long as the design includes safeguards to prevent criticality;
Operational testing to occur prior to shipment;
A redefinition of “operation” to begin only when those safeguards are removed post-deployment
This change removes key bottlenecks for companies building modular, transportable systems.
Here’s how it directly supports our portfolio:
Radiant (Q4 2021, Q1 2025): Radiant’s portable nuclear generators stand to benefit from off-site testing and factory fueling, especially for defense and remote energy use cases.
Aalo (Q3 2024, Q4 2024): Aalo’s sealed microreactors are built for factory assembly and shipment. These policies enable validation and fueling pre-deployment, accelerating early commercial pilots.
Blue Energy (Q4 2024): With a focus on modular deployment, Blue can now pursue pre-operational qualification in the factory, reducing on-site regulatory hurdles and shortening the path to demonstration.
These updates reflect a broader shift at the NRC toward enabling next-gen deployment models, aligned with the ADVANCE Act’s mandate for risk-informed, performance-based licensing.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “Staff Requirements – SECY-24-0008 – Micro-Reactor Licensing and Deployment Considerations: Fuel Loading and Operational Testing at a Factory”, June 17, 2025.
Forbes, “Nuclear Regulatory Commission Advances New Microreactor Policies”, by Noel Fletcher, June 30, 2025.
Utility Dive, “Nuclear Regulators Lighten Microreactor Restrictions”, by Brian Martucci, June 24, 2025.
Los Angeles is still reeling from a series of horrific fires that devasted multiple communities, particularly Palisades and Eaton in early 2025. Recent reports found that these fires caused between $28 and $54 billion in property damange, along with what may be $9 billion in related economic losses in LA County alone. The fires have caused a loss of almost 50,000 job-years in the region, reducing area wages, business income, and federal, state and local tax revenue.
Lack of rain, hotter and drier conditions and high winds helped fuel the fires while combating the fires was hindered by the excess heat and widespread shortage of divertable water resources. These are conditions that have been exascerbated by global warming, which is caused by humanity's growing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. Gigatonnes of these heat-trapping waste CO2 emissions have amassed within the atmosphere causing the planet to get warmer. Scientists now believe that we've exceeded 1.5°Celsius average increase or 2.7°Fahrenheit and the heating is continuing to rise at an accelerating rate.
While Los Angeles is working to recover, rebuild and repair, the question of how to begin to reverse the damage we're continuing to do to the climate remains. We know with total certainty that we must stop burning fossil fuels. But demand for energy is not just growing around the world, demand is surging—particularly due to AI usage. This means not only do we need to focus on building only new clean energy plants but we also need to replace the 80% of global energy still using fossil fuels with equivalent sources of clean power as well.
We've been building wind and solar as fast as possible but these have never been able to keep up with even the historically lower level of energy growth. Additionally, the enormous costs of "firming" all that dilute and intermittent power (i.e. adding batteries, duplicative generation, and other fossil back up for when the sun and wind aren't cooperating) have increased California ratepayer costs. Meanwhile, we are still reliant on burning fossil fuels for some 60% of our power here in California and new fossil plants continue to get built that lock in continued emissions for decades more, which is extraordinarily bad for our future.
We clearly need better solutions. From our perspective, the only good news on the climate horizon is that energy experts, tech hyperscalers, government officials, industrial companies and investors are increasingly recognizing the importance of nuclear power for addressing our energy and climate needs. Nuclear (fission) power produces massive amounts of energy with zero emissions and runs reliably 24/7 (except for refuelings). It also cleans the air (as it emits zero toxins, unlike coal and gas), it provides good-paying jobs and has one of the smallest possible ecologic footprints. Best of all, there's a race on to develop next-generation nuclear power plants that better meet our 21st century energy needs. (Nuclear fusion may play a role in the future but commercialization of that technology is still much further off.)
Nuclear power—and especially newer, advanced designs—has seen bipartisan support in the Congress since the Obama Administration. Both Biden and Trump have increased funding for development of next-gen nuclear and signed multiples bills to accelerate new deployments for energy security, for climate change and for national security goals. Public support for nuclear power is currently at its highest level in decades. Yet, support by men exceeds that of women overall. Among women, surprisingly, those most concerned about climate change, primarily progressive Democrats, report the least support for nuclear power. This appears to be a function of less awareness and knowledge about the technology and a residual sense that nuclear is dangerous, even though it has been found to be among the safest and cleanest forms of energy ever developed. That does not appear to be common knowledge among women yet.
Valerie Gardner, Nucleation Capital's managing partner, is working to help set the record straight. She is co-hosting a luncheon gathering for an intimate gathering of women in Los Angeles to discuss nuclear power and share what she has learned over the past 15 years of research and investigation, to dispell myths that still infuse women's thinking about nuclear energy.
Join a small group of women gathering at an LA restaurant to enjoy a hosted lunch and discussion exploring the proposition that nuclear power could be exactly what we need to meet the surging demand for energy and solve climate climate safely, sustainably and cost-effectively.
As data centers, cloud computing, vehicle electrification, crypto mining, manufacturing and more create unprecedented demand, energy buyers and the broader utility sector in general are facing a pivotal moment. Will we meet this demand with more cheap but often volatile fossil fuel power generation and continue to make our climate crisis worse? Or will we push forward and accelerate the commercialization of revolutionary advanced nuclear technologies that are clean, dense, low-impact, reliable and climate resilient—everything we need! What if next-generation nuclear is able to compete on every level with fossil fuels, including price? This could change our planet's trajectory for the better, reduce emissions, lessen the threat from climate change and help save our children's future.
Event Details:
Date: July 9th, 2025
Time: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location in LA: To be provided upon registration
Join us to explore ideas that will define the next generation of energy systems. Click here to request an invitation!
Looking forward to seeing everyone in L.A.!
The Trump administration issued four executive orders today aimed at boosting domestic nuclear deployment ahead of significant growth in projected energy demand in the coming decades. During a live signing in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump called nuclear “a hot industry,” and “a brilliant industry. . . . It’s become very safe and environmental.” These orders were designed to enhance America's energy security and support the growing demand for reliable power sources, particularly in AI and defense sectors.
Doon Insights, an investment-focused group organized by Howard Chao, convened dozens of subject-matter experts as speakers (see the list below) across many disciplines in Santa Cruz, California to address trends and issues impacting demand for and supply of energy in the coming years and decades. Energy, which is what makes today's technologically-dependent society possible, is a very large and important topic and was a lot to cover. But in an ambitious, rapid-paced one-day conference titled "POWER SURGE: Solving for Unprecedented Energy Demand," dozens of people laid out the fundamentals and discussed the key questions around both what is driving demand and how will we meet that demand. Questions tackled included:
Demand Side
Supply Side
Valerie Gardner, Nucleation's managing partner, moderated the day's fission panel, called "The Nuclear Option: Generation IV and Small Modular Reactors," which looked at the role of fission innovation and the coming wave of small, modular reactors (SMRs), that were poised to bring nuclear power into the 21st century. She and her panelists, Leah Crider from Westinghouse (seated on the left), representing the eVinci design, and Clayton Scott from NuScale Power (in the center), which has the first NRC-certified advanced fission design, discussed how and why next-generation nuclear will be the ideal clean energy solution that few think is possible.
While the Fission panel had a full 45 minutes (and probably went over-time) to cover a lot of ground, including reviewing nuclear's status as a major source of today's clean energy, the fact that nuclear is turning into a "technology" product that can be manufactured in factories and shipped to locations, and how a growing assortment of energy buyers like Google, Amazon and Dow Chemical see advanced nuclear as solving their energy needs better than other solutions, because the subject matter was so expansive, Valerie and her panel were able to cover many but definitely not all of the important points. Nevertheless, the fact that this conference's supply-side conversation included nuclear fission at all was a huge victory. This inclusion reflects the fact that nuclear energy is no longer seen as the taboo topic it was long deemed to be, at least up until the last couple of years. For too long, nuclear fission was excluded and no one considered it a vital part of the clean energy solution set. But times have changed and especially among investors looking to understand key long-term trends and be able to invest into them at an early stage.
According to Howard Chao, each panel of the conference, by design, was too short, leaving a lot of unfinished conversations. Nucleation Capital was honored to have been included in this discussion and we look forward to continuing to see interest in advanced nuclear broaden.
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