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Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital champions hard science and interdisciplinary consilience, funding companies at interspecies intersections. He describes Curion, the nuclear waste cleanup firm, whose cesium and strontium extraction in salt water helped Fukushima cleanup, lifting revenue from about 1 million to nearly 200 million after the disaster. He argues nuclear power, not carbon taxes or carbon capture, is the long term zero carbon base load and urges rebranding to emphasize its role alongside wind and solar. Variant Bio and other portfolio examples show Lux's interest in biology beyond conventional samples. Isolated populations reveal traits that could drive new therapies. Wolfe discusses Relativity Space and Anduril, highlighting a space race and a shift to reusable rockets and space based manufacturing. He cautions that capital over funding can raise hype, but the firm seeks milestones, skepticism, and authentic signal over noise.

Energy is crucial for modern life, and fusion energy promises a clean, waste-free alternative. On December 5, 2022, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a historic milestone by producing more energy from fusion than input. Fusion, unlike fission, combines atomic nuclei, generating helium and minimal environmental impact. It requires extreme conditions to overcome atomic repulsion, typically achieved through internal confinement fusion (ICF) using lasers. Despite this breakthrough, practical application remains distant due to engineering challenges, including the need for efficient laser technology and fuel sourcing, particularly tritium. Other methods, like magnetic confinement fusion, are also being explored. While fusion energy is closer to reality, significant advancements are still required before it can be a viable power source.

Casey Handmer reflects on contrasts between ancient Rome and modern industrialization, arguing that Rome possessed the tech for industry but lacked the political and economic incentives to scale it, often punished innovators, and thus failed to sustain large-scale reform. He pivots to Mars terraforming and argues that while Mars has Earth-like qualities, achieving habitability hinges on warming the planet, with mass-produced solar cells from Earth as the most plausible route. He lays out ambitious timelines—about a decade—to dramatically boost warmth, and even sketches radical ideas like autonomous on-site factories producing nano-antennas to intensify greenhouse effects, or nuclear options that would require vast heat management strategies. The conversation then shifts to the practicalities and constraints of energy. Handmer emphasizes solar power as the scalable backbone of civilization’s energy future, critiques the limits of fossil fuels and some nuclear approaches, and argues that a massive solar rollout on Earth is the most viable path to long-term prosperity and technological acceleration. He expands on the mindset and culture of industrial founders, describing how the best builders are persistent, sometimes abrasive, and capable of turning adversity into progress. He discusses why many SpaceX alumni drift toward venture capital rather than creating durable, manufacturing-scale ventures, and why Habana-like disruption requires real, hands-on factory work, not just advisory roles. The dialogue covers how to nurture future Elons by letting talented people build, encouraging iteration, and resisting over-optimization that stifles bold experimentation. Handmer also talks about the personal dimensions of being a founder—the suffering, discipline, and day-to-day grind of making hard bets, including the value of practice, learning from mistakes, and the satisfaction of delivering tangible industrial output. The latter portion touches governance, societal incentives, and demographic challenges, examining housing policy, aging populations, and potential reforms to align economic growth with social needs. He closes by outlining a sweeping, almost cinematic vision for infrastructure: a solar-powered, digitally enabled civilization capable of transforming energy, materials, and space exploration, anchored by the belief that the hardware-first, hands-on approach is essential to advancing humanity. The episode features references to historical and contemporary figures and ideas to frame these ambitions, including discussions about Elon Musk, the broader tech ecosystem, and the potential for a solar-dominated energy renaissance to drive Mars exploration and Earth-based industry. Handmer emphasizes practical pathways over utopian rhetoric, promoting a culture of relentless, hands-on building and continuous learning as the engine of progress.

Radiant is developing a one-megawatt, transportable nuclear reactor designed to be factory-built, shipped to a site, and operated with minimal on-site infrastructure. The company pitches a model in which customers have real control over the unit, including the ability to turn it on and off and, if desired, have Radiant retrieve it. The design is intended to avoid on-site nuclear waste storage and to comply with NRC public dose limits, enabling deployment outside a traditional heavy infrastructure footprint. Radiant aims to be ready for a fuel test in 2026, positioning the effort as a solution to decades of stagnation in reactor development, with the potential to supply clean power to about 1,000 homes per unit and to be mass-produced at scale. The conversation frames this as a new category of nuclear power—portable, mass-producible, and deployable globally—that differs from conventional large grid-scale reactors and smaller microreactors, offering a pathway to replace diesel in remote locations and provide resilience for disaster relief. Doug Bernauer, a SpaceX veteran, explains his transition to nuclear with Radiant and outlines the core team, including co-founder Bob, who handled software and cybersecurity on Hyperloop. The discussion covers Radiant’s HTGR approach using TRISO fuel in a ceramic-coated form within a graphite core and helium cooling, emphasizing safety features like high fuel temperature tolerance and the helium’s non-radioactive nature. The regulator landscape is reviewed, noting an atrophied regulatory muscle from decades of slow progress, but with a regulatory community that is capable and engaged. The interview also dives into the company’s strategy for learning and sharing, including open fuel specifications and testing results through collaborations with national labs, as well as the idea of building a playbook for the one-megawatt category while contributing to broader regulatory and technical progress through digital twin technology and other innovations. The episode touches on fundraising, revealing roughly $60 million in venture capital across Series A and B rounds plus several government contracts totaling about $8.7 million. Details about applying the technology in Alaska and other remote or disaster-prone settings illustrate the business case for replacing diesel with clean nuclear power, offering both electric and heat output and rapid deployment. The conversation closes with reflections on future milestones, ongoing hiring, and the promise of bringing a functional reactor to fuel and testing in the near term.

Isaiah Taylor, founder of Valor Atomics, shares a high-velocity arc from a childhood spent devouring encyclopedias to dropping out of high school and building hands-on tech ventures, all aimed at dramatically changing energy. He argues that ambitious hard-tech timelines should shock industry insiders; if an expert isn’t awed by your schedule, your plan is too conservative. The conversation traces his early tinkering with electronics, chemical experiments, and programming, which coalesced into a practical, fast-moving career: building an auto shop with a partner, launching an IoT-enabled SAS for auto maintenance, and then pursuing nuclear-scale ambitions. Taylor emphasizes the importance of seeing a project through every layer, from circuitry to system-level design, and highlights the value of tools that let learners trace cause and effect from fundamentals to end products. He describes Valor Atomics’ core thesis: to massively scale nuclear power by centralizing control, vertical integration, and repeatable, site-agnostic construction to lower the capital and plant costs that currently dominate the economics of nuclear energy. He contrasts the old public-private, top-down, centralized programs of the Apollo/Manhattan era with a modern private-led model that uses centralized direction and integrated manufacturing to reduce the infamous “idiot index” in nuclear projects, arguing that better incentives and mass production can slash costs and improve reliability. The interview delves into regulatory realities, the challenge of licensing iterative changes, and the strategic decision to anchor hydrocarbon production alongside reactors to create a massive, bankable market. Taylor also reflects on broader energy economics, technology culture in El Segundo, and the camaraderie of like-minded founders, insisting that audacious timelines and relentless testing of reality are the fastest paths to transformative outcomes. In personal notes, he recounts a near-tragic moment with his first child, affirming faith and resilience as essential to shouldering the risks of hard tech entrepreneurship. Topics: Nuclear energy, Hard tech entrepreneurship, Mass manufacturing, Energy economics, Regulation and licensing, Vertical integration, Hydrocarbons and energy vectors, El Segundo tech hub, Founder communities, Personal resilience otherTopics: Aircraft concepts and thermodynamics, Role of encyclopedias in learning, Early programming and education paths, Startup funding dynamics, The “idiot index” in tech booksMentioned: Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon; Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers; The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology; How It Works encyclopedia; Illustrated Encyclopedia of Science and Technology

In this episode of Off the Chain, Anthony Pompliano interviews Mark Schneider, a nuclear futurist and expert in Gen 4 nuclear power. Schneider has a background in the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power Program and commercial power experience. He explains the basics of nuclear energy, describing how nuclear reactors use uranium-235 as fuel, which absorbs neutrons and undergoes fission, generating heat that boils water to produce steam, which then drives turbines to generate electricity. Schneider discusses the differences between land-based nuclear reactors and those used in submarines and aircraft carriers, noting that while the designs are similar, the scale and application differ. He emphasizes that nuclear power has a much smaller land footprint compared to renewable sources like wind and solar, requiring 750 to 1,000 times more space for equivalent energy output. Nuclear plants operate at a high capacity factor of 92%, compared to 10-20% for solar and 25-40% for wind. The conversation touches on uranium dependency, with Schneider stating that the U.S. has about a thousand years of uranium-235 available, though it is currently used inefficiently. He explains the potential of fast reactors to transmute uranium-238 into plutonium, which could extend fuel availability significantly. However, regulatory restrictions from the Carter Administration prevent the U.S. from utilizing fast reactors and reprocessing spent fuel. Schneider addresses public concerns about nuclear waste, explaining that spent fuel is stored in cooling pools and later in casks, which are designed to be safe and secure. He clarifies that the long-term radioactivity of nuclear waste is often misunderstood, with most fission products decaying within 300 years, while plutonium-239 has a half-life of around 24,000 years. The discussion also covers historical nuclear accidents, including Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, highlighting the differences in reactor design and operational protocols that have improved safety since those events. Schneider emphasizes that U.S. reactors are designed with robust containment systems to prevent the release of radiation. Looking ahead, Schneider expresses excitement about new nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors and advancements in fast reactor designs. He notes the potential for nuclear power to play a significant role in future energy generation, especially in the context of climate change and the need for reliable, clean energy sources. The episode concludes with a discussion on the intersection of nuclear power with emerging industries like cryptocurrency mining and cannabis cultivation, suggesting that nuclear energy could provide a stable and efficient power source for these sectors.

Nuclear energy has faced significant public relations challenges, often overshadowed by incidents like Fukushima and Three Mile Island, despite no fatalities occurring in those events. James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear, emphasizes that nuclear energy is the safest form of power, outperforming wind and solar in terms of deaths per gigawatt hour. Nano Nuclear is developing portable microreactors that can provide low-cost energy to remote communities and mining sites, which currently rely on diesel power. These microreactors, defined as having a capacity of less than 20 megawatts, can operate for 15-20 years without the need for extensive infrastructure. Walker highlights the potential for microreactors to create a resilient energy grid, particularly in areas prone to blackouts. He discusses the advantages of distributed systems and the passive safety features of microreactors, which can cool themselves without the risk of catastrophic failure. The conversation also touches on the economic implications of nuclear energy, asserting that access to affordable energy can alleviate poverty and foster environmental stewardship. Walker notes the need for a new regulatory framework tailored to microreactors, as existing regulations are based on larger plants. He expresses optimism about the future of nuclear energy, advocating for its role in achieving energy independence and addressing climate concerns while lifting people out of poverty.

Building a company feels like moments, but it’s a game of inches. A good leader is a conductor, coordinating people and priorities toward a shared goal. Climate work frames a 10 trillion dollar problem; cheap, clean energy is the biggest limiter to progress. I faced fundraising headwinds: the crash of April 2000, and early pitches focused on convincing investors there would be more servers. If everyone says no, why not push ahead? The breakthrough came with Sequoia: a glass-walled room on Sand Hill Road, where Mike Moritz asked blunt questions to get at the problem we were solving. The board was tough but valuable, urging us to ship earlier. The operating premise: every small decision and every customer shapes the outcome, and Sequoia became a milestone in that journey. Best boards treat themselves as a resource: external investors who bring perspective. Enter with two big strategic questions and ask for feedback: vertical or horizontal? Europe or the US? Launch early or wait? The job is to elevate the entrepreneur with critical advice, while recognizing it’s not your company. Across ventures, inertia is a quiet, powerful force, and people challenges grow as teams scale. The conductor analogy holds: align the players, ask the right questions, and keep the team coordinated so people can do their best work. In climate investing, the pitch must show we are cheaper or better, with environmental benefits as a secondary claim. The core thesis remains: energy matters, and cheap, clean energy unlocks progress. Solar dominates and storage costs fall; the field moves toward cheaper, abundant energy for a range of uses. Fusion is an X factor, with credible paths like Commonwealth Fusion Systems and the National Ignition Facility. Time to revenue and capital efficiency matter: de-risk core tech and market risk through staged milestones, favoring smaller, decoupled risks. There is a need for more capital and talent in climate tech, and products must have a compelling economics before highlighting environmental benefits. Don’t miss a moment: a refrain in both parenting and leadership. Presence with family matters, even when Sundays are spent taking calls from entrepreneurs. The closing vision is optimism: a decade hence, electrification, cheap clean power, self-driving tech, and fusion as a potential game changer, deploying technologies that improve health and livelihoods while reshaping industry and energy use.

David Curtley, CEO of Helion Energy, explains why nuclear fusion could revolutionize energy by delivering abundant, clean electricity, and why fusion remains technically hard yet increasingly feasible with new approaches beyond traditional tokamaks. He clarifies that fusion fuses light hydrogen isotopes to release energy, unlike fission, which splits heavy nuclei. He highlights fusion fuels such as deuterium, tritium, and helium-3, noting Earth has vast deuterium in seawater, and that fusion energy would be inherently safe because the reaction shuts off when fuel is removed. Helion pursues magneto-inertial fusion, combining magnetic confinement with pulsed compression, to achieve high beta plasmas and direct electricity generation. topics whoosh/spin-up note that fusion enables electricity directly rather than via steam cycles, and that fusion waste is different from fission waste. He contrasts fission’s self-sustaining chain reactions with fusion’s controllable pulsed outputs, arguing for safety, minimal long-lived waste, and non-proliferation benefits. He also emphasizes the regulatory shift toward fusion under the ADVANCE Act, shielding design, and the importance of robust diagnostics, real-time monitoring, and high-speed electronics to manage thousands of switches at microsecond timescales. He then dives into how Helion builds and tests progressively larger fusion systems, naming IPA, Grande, Venti, and Trina, describing a rapid prototyping culture that prioritizes manufacturability, use of off-the-shelf materials, and vertical integration. He recounts lessons from histories of theta-pinches, field-reversed configurations (FRCs), and the transition from research to practical devices that produce electricity directly from fusion reactions. The conversation covers energy density, the challenge of achieving 100 million degrees and sustained confinement, and the promise of direct power conversion that could better serve data centers and grid integration. themes of geopolitics and safety surface, including fusion’s potential to decouple energy from uranium and its implications for global energy security. He discusses timelines, partnerships with Microsoft for a 2028 grid-connected fusion plant, and the broader vision of a world with scalable fusion generators, high manufacturing velocity, and a path toward widespread deployment. The dialogue closes with reflections on humanity’s future, space propulsion, and the beauty of physics driving transformative technologies.

Isabelle Boemeke shares how a tweet from Dr. Carolyn Porco transformed her view on nuclear energy. After years of research, she found that nuclear power has the lowest life cycle emissions and is safer than fossil fuels, which cause millions of deaths annually. She created Isodope, a digital influencer, to promote nuclear energy as a cool, clean, and necessary solution for climate change and energy independence.

Forecasters predict that global energy production and demand may need to increase fivefold by the end of the century, driven by GDP growth. Current fossil fuel methods won't suffice, necessitating advancements in renewable energy technologies like fusion. Bob Momgaard and David Kirtley, CEOs of Commonwealth Fusion and Helion, respectively, are leading efforts in this field, having raised substantial funding for their projects. Fusion, the process powering stars, offers a potential energy source that could generate vast amounts of power with minimal emissions. Momgaard discussed the progress in fusion technology, emphasizing the need for scalable power plants that can produce energy efficiently. He highlighted the construction of a prototype fusion power plant, Spark, which aims to achieve a net positive energy output by 2026. Kirtley introduced Helion's approach, Magneto Inertial Fusion, which combines magnetic and inertial confinement methods to accelerate fusion processes. Both companies are focused on making fusion commercially viable, with Kirtley mentioning a power purchase agreement with Microsoft for a 50-megawatt plant by 2028. The discussion also touched on regulatory challenges and public acceptance of fusion technology, which is increasingly viewed favorably when communicated effectively. Both leaders expressed optimism about the future of fusion energy, emphasizing the urgency of transitioning to sustainable energy sources to address climate change and global energy demands.