Radiant is an energy company that many people have never heard of, but you’re about to. The company is created by ex-SpaceX engineer turned founder and CEO, Doug Bernauer who has bold plans to change the way we think about nuclear energy.
Radiant was the focus of a couple of recent YouTube videos by S3 which do a great job of showcasing the company and it’s bold ambitions.
Nuclear power is controversial and certainly has been the focus of many headlines here in Australia with our the leader of the Federal opposition making nuclear energy a cornerstone policy for the next election.
The two videos do a great job of explaining that this is a completely novel approach to delivering energy via nuclear energy. This approach aims to make reactors small (the size of a shipping container) and able to combine as many as 4 at one site, for up to 4MW in the size of a tennis court.
Traditional nuclear reactors take decades to build and cost billions of dollars, along with safety zones measured in kilometers.
These small-scale reactors are designed to be produced rapidly (dozens per year), delivering power to wherever it is needed. When Bernauer says anywhere, he means it. The examples provided include underwater, extreme heat or cold (i.e. up a mountain) or even on another planet like Mars.
As great as renewables are (solar, wind, batteries, hydro etc), they are challenged by geography, something Radiant believes they can overcome with their solution.
Radiant believes nuclear fission, is the fastest path to getting us off fossil fuels.
Radiant’s miniaturized reactors use nuclear fission, a process that occurs when a neutron slams into a larger atom, forcing it to excite and split into two smaller atoms. This process creates heat which can turn a turbine or generator to create electricity.
The process needs to be cooled and instead of using water, Radiant’s approach uses a helium circulator to cool the reactor and graphite moderator to slow down neutrons. The company has already built a prototype helium circulator and is working on a full core design.
In 18 months, Radiant plans to ship its first reactor to Idaho National Lab for testing.
While this may not be the replacement for Australia’s grid problems due to old coal-fired power stations reach end of life, it’s an interesting approach that’ll need to work through the technical, as well as the regulation required to deploy.
Another interesting attribute is the safety. Not only do they believe you could safely have this close to where people walk and live, but the design also encompasses safety by design. The video does a great job of showcasing a digital twin of the solution and how they are able to stop the reaction and in the worst case, vent the heat to atmosphere without risk of a thermal runaway.
Please take some time to watch both the videos, these certainly opened my mind to new possibilities with Nuclear and Radiant is now on my list of companies to watch over the next couple of years.