Can Nuclear Power Go Small? Inside Hadron Energy's Microreactor | Sam Gibson - Founder and CEO, Hadron Energy

Send us Fan Mail Nuclear power has a scale problem: conventional plants are enormous, expensive projects that can take years to build. Hadron Energy wants to take a different approach with a factory-manufactured, 10-megawatt light-water microreactor. But can a smaller reactor actually mean lower costs, simpler deployment and credible safety?  Sam Gibson is Founder and CEO of Hadron Energy ( https://www.hadronenergy.com/ ), a company developing the Halo Micro-Modular Reactor, a proposed 10-megawatt-electric light-water nuclear reactor designed to provide continuous, carbon-free power for applications such as AI data centers, industrial facilities, and remote infrastructure. Sam is a mechanical engineer and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026. His work focuses on bringing nuclear engineering and manufacturing principles together to rethink how reliable energy can be delivered. We explore what distinguishes microreactors from conventional nuclear plants, why Hadron is betting on established light-water technology rather than alternative reactor designs, and why AI is creating new opportunities for nuclear power. We'll also examine the realities of nuclear safety, regulation, construction costs, fuel supply, and the path from a factory-built design to commercial deployment. And we’ll answer a fundamental question - Can smaller, standardized nuclear reactors help power our increasingly electrified world - and do they offer a practical way to bring new nuclear capacity online faster? #NuclearEnergy #Microreactors #SmallModularReactors #AdvancedNuclear #NuclearPower #AIDataCenters #EnergyInnovation #CleanEnergy #EnergySecurity #NuclearEngineering #Uranium #USEnergy #FutureOfEnergy #ArtificialIntelligence #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilities Support the show