Doug Bernauer

Happy 250th! American Values Reflected in Hardware

At Radiant, we LOVE nuclear fuel!!! Thank you, neutron star dust, for being part of our earth!

Great discussions with Secretary Wright about Radiant's testing and commercial plans. He's so full of energy!! Also he knows his tech and wanted to know all the numbers for our unique fuel design, transportability, and above grade concrete shield(pictured)

Great visit with @SecretaryWright at the INL DOME today - proud to show our progress firsthand!

@OverReactor1776 Sad to see you leave, love that you can speak freely now (weird you can't while serving?). Your fearless optimism and energy will be missed in DOE and NRC. Of course, we're all eager to see what you do next!

Now that I’m out of government, I can finally respond for myself: Get bent, soyboy. We didn’t do this for “Silicon Valley . . . companies.” We did this for you, for your family, your community, your state, your nation, and your species. Nuclear energy provides the safest, highest density, reliable power available on our planet. My career colleagues at DOE and NRC inspired me to think about nuclear as a way to forge American steel and electrolyze aluminum without releasing particulate matter, to desalinate water in the Middle East and save humanity from resource wars. By rejecting the false narratives and Cold War hysteria, we can secure the next American century while raising whole countries out of poverty. Do you really think I left an incredible career at Kirkland, paid out of pocket for an apartment in DC and dozens of cross-country trips, and left my family on the west coast because I wanted to enrich people I never met before taking this job? I came to D.C. to do something that mattered, to satisfy a driving curiosity (more on that later), and, most importantly, to serve. As I learned more about nuclear energy and its history, I developed a conviction that one nuclear’s biggest issues was a culture of cynicism: nothing new or exciting could happen because it would end in disappointment, and that militated against rocking the boat even a tiny bit. The career staff in government and their industry counterparts lived through dark winters before and stopped believing that warm springs could bloom into summers. I have two core philosophies. First, I believe in ruthless optimism. Rational decision making requires detached risk analysis. But we also cannot win if we believe we can lose. Merging the two requires orienting teams around driving missions. That way, when a real opportunity presents itself, you can take a huge swing. If I take credit for anything—honestly, almost all of the success belongs to the incredible and dedicated people at @ENERGY and @NRCgov—it’s countering the cultural rot and morass that risked forfeiting American excellence. My colleagues and I gave cover to the scientists and engineers, which freed them up to focus on delivering safe power. And, as success materialized, they started to dream again. That’s why the pilot program succeeded, and why I feel confident about the future of NLICs and NRC reform. Nobody needs me anymore because they can innovate on their own. My second core philosophy is to assume positive intent. Avi, I know that you heard about my real motivations from multiple people you interviewed when preparing your hit piece on me. Rather than telling that story, one which could help inspire another generation of people to use their talents for the greater good, you ignored them. Instead, you implied that Peter Thiel recruited me for nefarious purposes. (I’ve never met him, but, @peterthiel, if you’re reading this, I’m a huge fan!) Nuclear regulation starts and ends with safety. I promised everyone I worked with that I would resign before doing or pushing for anything that could compromise public safety. But I also distinguished between real safety and performative bullshit. That’s what the careers came to embrace, too. We love nuclear, why would we do anything that could risk threatening its future? America faces a crossroads. We can either trod a road of cultural decay or hike our way back to the peak of global innovation. Join me on the latter path. Correct the fear mongering and conspiracies and tell the story of America’s great reindustrialization. Tell the story of our public servants, our great entrepreneurs, our scientific dominance. Tell the real story about how DOGE went nuclear.

Powerful clip from Denzel Washington really hit home, no one has said this better: youtube.com/shorts/P80k7CK…

@BrianAde knew you'd enjoy that!

@DougBernauer Nice hat I see btw!

Atomic heat extractor ready for rock! *Just add uranium*

I 100% agree with Chairman Nieh. I have only had positive interactions with Seth Cohen. He cares deeply about safety, nuclear power, and success all at once.

Ok now, on the count of ten, everyone show your reactor concrete.

@baglino @RadiantNuclear @espricewright Yes, as always, had a great time !!

Had a great time covering everything from micro-Nuclear "NIMBY" and next generation power electronics with @RadiantNuclear CEO @DougBernauer and @espricewright on the A16z podcast a few weeks back. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how…

Congrats @rookisaacman ! Radiant stopped work to watch this epic launch. It's so exciting that NASA has Americans going to the moon again, and the coming of NASA's nuclear power in space will enable faster, further, and longer lasting missions !!

The Kaleidos pressure vessel. See you @inl this summer.

@jjkaplowitz haha, love this one, you're right....using both hands now!

@DougBernauer Send both 😂

This is as much detail as we can possibly share on our actual nuclear reactor being built, expect more awesome soon!

Radiant gained a new strategic partner: @LockheedMartin chose @RadiantNuclear to invest. July 4th, a new era of nuclear energy begins.

Tom, your angel investment was the actual first check in Radiant. We had an awesome chat in the middle of Los Angeles in 2020 that I'll never forget. Thanks for continuing to sing our praises!

@packyM @RULO999 @RadiantNuclear @basepowerco let's do it!!

@RULO999 @RadiantNuclear @basepowerco we gotta get @DougBernauer to co-write one with me now.

You have until midnight tonight to be a Day One member of not boring world, and then poof, the opportunity is gone forever. Really makes you think. notboring.co/p/welcome-to-n…

Radiant is the first nuclear startup to generate electric power!😉 Check out our Turbine-Alternator-Compressor: Using nuclear reactor heat, it can generate over 1.25MW. Using a drill, just a tiny light blinks...but everything begins with first light! Merry Christmas to all!