Notebook
Radiant: Leading the Nuclear Renaissance
Radiant is building the Kaleidos, Earth's first mass-produced nuclear reactor
By Will Dufton
adiant is building the Kaleidos, Earth's first mass-produced nuclear reactor. Kaleidos is a 1MWe microreactor that fits on the back of a truck or cargo jet to provide clean, portable, baseload power to the world's most demanding customers.
We met Radiant as part of an industry-wide deep dive into nuclear energy. Radiant stood out as by far the most product-oriented team we met, focused on delivering a great customer experience and not just electrons. When we visited Radiant’s founder, Doug Bernauer, at the company’s El Segundo HQ in Los Angeles, it did not take long for him to convince us of his vision to provide nuclear power to the universe’s most extreme locations. The ambition was palpable; it was clear that the future was being built on that factory floor.
Over the course of our partnership, Radiant has consistently met milestones on or ahead of schedule. Radiant’s extraordinary team is showing the new nuclear industry what the gold standard looks like (in these situations, we recognise that the most valuable thing we can do to support is stay out of the way!). Giant has worked closely with Radiant to amplify the company’s story globally, and support in building the go-to-market strategy with Radiant’s commercial team to help them prioritise the multi-billion-dollar opportunity before them.
Radiant is on track to deliver the first advanced reactor to operate commercially in the West. The principal achievements during the course of our partnership are ground-breaking for the nuclear industry:
- 1.Selected to be the first fullnew US reactor design to be tested at the Idaho National Laboratory
- 1.Sold 20 reactors to hyperscaler, Equinix
- 1.Signed first-ever deal for a mass-manufactured nuclear reactor on a US military base by 2028
- 1.Strong regulatory progress with both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy
- 1.First company to sign a contract with the US government for High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel and first binding contract for enrichment services
- 1.Acquired the site for its factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where they will manufacture 50 reactors per year at scale
- 1.Strengthened the team with key hires including, Dr. Rita Baranwal, the former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, as Chief Nuclear Officer, and almost a dozen VP and Director hires across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain organizations.
Each Kaleidos reactor avoids 72,000 tons of CO2 over its 20-year life.
