meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The a16z Show

A Nuclear Comeback: Are New Reactors the Answer?

The a16z Show

a16z

Disruption, Culture, Technology, Software Eating The World, Innovation, Science, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.21.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nuclear energy accounts for 20% of the electricity in the United States, but remarkably, 2023 marked the commissioning of the U.S.'s first new nuclear reactor in over three decades. The past few years have been a story of changing public opinion, but equally, innovative startups crafting groundbreaking reactor designs and an ambitious announcement by the U.S. government to triple nuclear power production by 2050. In this episode recorded at a16z’s American Dynamism Summit in Washington DC, a16z podcast host Steph Smith is joined by a16z General Partner David Ulevich, Doug Bernauer – CEO of microreactor company Radiant – and Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Nuclear Energy. From energizing the country's data centers to propelling the electric vehicles on our roads or powering the factories crafting tomorrow's innovations, they discuss why expanding our nuclear capacity is a national imperative. Stay tuned for more exclusive conversations from a16z's second annual American Dynamism Summit in Washington DC.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

They recognize we have the sensational need for energy. We're not going backwards in our energy consumption. So if we're going to have new energy

0:06.8

generation has to be clean energy.

0:08.7

Delivery of fuel are a clear vulnerability. Natural gas obviously can hold an entire nation hostage.

0:17.0

The typical construction timeline is really like 6 to 15 years on the big reactors right now.

0:23.0

Maybe nuclear energy is a lot safer than we actually originally realized.

0:26.0

The radiation exposure from living next to a coal plant is higher than the radiation exposure from living next to a nuclear power plant. We can reduce the radiation.

0:35.0

the radiation. The really exciting thing for me is that really far into the scale of

0:38.0

the portal micro reactors, we haven't really achieved that yet.

0:40.0

And you could actually produce these in a factory because they're portable

0:43.7

you can do mass production. 10 or 15 years from now the idea that we can't just

0:47.9

immediately turn on a reliable and enduring power source for a community it's gonna be

0:52.4

unimaginable if it will going to be unimaginable.

0:53.1

It will be a solved problem.

0:55.9

What might surprise some people to learn

0:57.9

is that nuclear energy accounts for 20%

1:00.6

of the electricity in the United States. But what I think will surprise very few people

1:06.3

it's to learn that this carbon-free energy source has quite the storied history.

1:10.8

Over the last few decades decades resulting in new reactors slowing almost entirely to a halt.

1:17.5

However, the past few years have been what some people might call a comeback story. In 2023, we saw America's first newly built

1:26.3

reactor come online in over three decades. But we're also seeing startups build

1:31.6

entirely new types of reactors, public discourse shifting,

1:35.4

and even the US government itself recently announcing its intent to triple nuclear power production by 2050.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from a16z, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of a16z and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.