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Why the US Needs Nuclear Energy | Jordan Bramble, CEO of Antares | Ep. 11

(If you enjoyed this, please like and subscribe!) Jordan Bramble is the CEO of Antares, a nuclear energy company that has raised over $50M to become America’s industrial base partner for special-purpose microreactors. Antares focuses on high-value use cases in power-constrained environments that wouldn’t be possible without nuclear power. They are developing resilient fission-based power systems for critical assets for the Department of Defense on earth and in space. Unlike grid-scale reactors, these use cases primarily favor kilowatt-scale systems. This focus on non-commodity energy applications with smaller scale reactors will enable Antares to develop its first deployments on faster timelines with less research and development and capitalization risk. Antares also partners with commercial companies in extractive industries, edge computing, and space power, in turn bringing the benefits of commercial scale back to the DOD. We covered: - History of nuclear - Demand for nuclear - Small modular reactors - Government collaboration - Building in hard tech - Scaling nuclear reactors A few highlights: - First nuclear reactor built under UChicago’s football field - A nuclear powered airplane that could fly indefinitely - Net zero not being possible without nuclear - Powering the AI demand for data centers - The Golden Dome and lasers in space - Working back from the mission effect - Interdisciplinary problems attracting talent Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:22) History of nuclear (6:50) Radical decline in development (10:51) Current appetite for funding (20:53) Small modular reactors (30:11) Selling to defense (34:30) LA becoming a hard tech hub (37:13) Fostering a culture in hard tech (43:42) How to scale nuclear reactors More on Antares: https://antaresindustries.com/ https://x.com/jordanbramble More on Uncapped: https://linktr.ee/uncappedpod https://x.com/jaltma Email: friends@uncappedpod.com

Jordan BrambleguestJack Altmanhost
May 28, 202545mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Nuclear’s slowdown, resurgence, and microreactors for defense and space

  1. The conversation traces U.S. nuclear history from early wartime reactors and the nuclear navy to commercial grid buildout—then highlights the sharp post-1970s slowdown (roughly 100 reactors built early, only a few since).
  2. Bramble argues nuclear’s stagnation was “overdetermined”: safety incidents and regulatory restructuring mattered, but so did 1970s-era macro/financial shifts and the drop in large government R&D programs that previously catalyzed demand and workforce capacity.
  3. He outlines today’s renewed drivers: decarbonization (net-zero needs fission), rising electricity needs (AI/data centers and broader growth), national security energy resilience, and accelerating space militarization requiring high power in orbit.
  4. Antares focuses on kilowatt-scale “microreactors” using heat-pipe cooling—factory-manufacturable, premium-power products optimized for mission-critical defense and space use cases rather than commodity electricity markets.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

U.S. nuclear growth collapsed after an early buildout.

Bramble notes the U.S. built ~100 reactors from ~1950 to the early 1970s, but only turned on about three additional grid reactors since—framing the modern “nuclear pause” as a central problem.

Nuclear’s stagnation wasn’t just politics or fear—finance and demand mattered.

He argues many narratives overemphasize regulation/public sentiment, while underweighting 1970s budget austerity, rising interest rates, and reduced federal R&D intensity (from ~12–15% of budget historically to ~3% today), which eroded the pipeline and workforce needed for repeatable builds.

Regulatory separation changed the development environment.

The Atomic Energy Commission once both built and regulated; Congress later created DOE and an independent NRC, changing incentives, timelines, and approval pathways alongside other headwinds.

Fission alone can materially address decarbonization at scale.

Bramble positions fission as available, carbon-free power now, contrasting it with fusion’s promised advantages (less waste/radiation challenges) but emphasizing fusion’s unresolved materials and timeline risks.

AI/data centers revive the ‘how do we power it?’ question—and nuclear is back on the table.

He argues renewables’ low energy density and transmission buildout limits make firm, high-density generation attractive; Big Tech interest (Meta/Amazon/Google) is real, though he claims they’re not yet spending meaningfully compared to DoD.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We built something like a hundred reactors… between roughly 1950 and the early 1970s. I think we’ve built and turned on three since in the US on the grid.

— Jordan Bramble

I’ve seen a lot of people have talked about regulation… public sentiment… But I’ve seen very few people really comment on the… financial changes… in the seventies.

— Jordan Bramble

We can certainly do it with just fission… fission is carbon-free power.

— Jordan Bramble

The problem with fusion is that it’s… perpetually thirty years away.

— Jordan Bramble

You could fit it on a truck bed… an eighteen-wheeler truck bed.

— Jordan Bramble

Origins of nuclear: Manhattan Project, AEC, naval reactorsCommercialization: Shippingport and early small plants1970s slowdown: regulation, incidents, finances, demand collapseShift from government-led programs to private/venture involvementDrivers today: climate, AI/data center load, resilience, China competitionSpace nuclear power and directed-energy weapons implicationsSMR vs microreactor economics; factory manufacturing; heat pipes

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