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Julia DeWahl is the cofounder of Antares, a company developing nuclear micro-reactors for the US military and critical infrastructure. She sits down with John to discuss the vision for the "Starlink o...
Julia DeWahl, cofounder of Antares, discusses building nuclear microreactors for US military and critical infrastructure. She covers the dramatic regulatory improvements under both Biden and Trump administrations, the bipartisan nuclear renaissance driven by AI hyperscalers' power demands, and why true energy resilience requires more than solar and batteries. DeWahl shares lessons from SpaceX and Opendoor, including the importance of customer obsession and technical rigor, while explaining Antares' path to demonstrating their first reactor by 2027.
DeWahl shares formative experiences from Opendoor (sitting outside bagel shops to understand home sellers) and SpaceX (bringing first Starlink customers to all-hands, leading to dedicated mounting solutions team). These experiences shaped her approach to understanding customer pain points and building cross-functional teams to solve them.
Antares builds microreactors in the hundreds of kilowatts range (smaller than submarine reactors), designed to replace diesel generators for critical infrastructure. Target applications include military bases, missile defense sites, and eventually commercial off-grid uses like oil rigs and underwater systems.
Antares plans criticality testing in 2026 and first demonstration unit by 2027. Critically, new Trump-era policy creates a DOE regulatory pathway alongside traditional NRC licensing, allowing reactor testing through Idaho National Lab without upfront NRC approval. The Army's JANIS program offers milestone-based funding modeled on SpaceX's COTS program.
Both Biden and Trump administrations have dramatically reformed nuclear regulation. Biden changed NRC's mandate from safety-only (where zero reactors is 'safest') to considering broader environmental impact. Trump added 18-month licensing timelines and opened DOE pathways. Legislation passes 95-5 in Senate, showing rare bipartisan consensus.
Public support for nuclear has increased nearly 20 percentage points to 60%+ in recent years. Opposition now comes from aging Cold War-era activists (like 'Mothers for Peace' at Diablo Canyon hearings), while younger generations drive support. DeWahl participated in activism to keep Diablo Canyon open, which succeeded.
While solar panels are cheap, achieving true 24/7 coverage with batteries costs as much as nuclear due to massive overbuild requirements and hidden grid complexity costs. Hyperscalers pursuing carbon commitments choose nuclear despite solar costs because they need firm, baseload power. Energy diversity provides resilience against supply chain vulnerabilities.
US currently imports ~50% of uranium from Russia and ex-Soviet states, with only 1% domestically mined until recently. Conversion and enrichment largely done overseas. New reshoring efforts include uranium mining in Western states and General Matter (Founders Fund-backed) entering enrichment space with Silicon Valley approach.
While working on Starlink deployment to Ukraine at SpaceX, DeWahl became curious about energy geopolitics. Germany shutting nuclear to turn on coal, her cousin's glass factory going bankrupt from energy prices, and Russia's resource leverage led her to research nuclear. She met cofounder Jordan through a Twitter post, who had the military microreactor vision.
SpaceX's confrontational culture emphasizes stopping everything to deeply probe problems using 'five whys on steroids.' DeWahl brings this approach to Antares - pausing to question assumptions leads to better decisions and faster course corrections, even if it means missing next meetings.
Antares will require hundreds of millions to reach market. Currently receiving single-digit millions in government grants, moving toward tens of millions in R&D grants, then program of record funding. The race is on among several reactor companies to hit technical milestones. Pre-orders and larger government contracts will layer in after 2027 demonstration.
DeWahl advocates for government as buyer (like NASA for SpaceX). New $80B public-private partnership with Westinghouse represents largest commercial nuclear deal ever. Brookfield Asset Management partnering with utilities to complete abandoned VC Summer plant. Government buying creates market signal that mobilizes supply chain and workforce.
Nuclear-grade material supply chain is extremely limited since no plants built recently - means higher costs and fewer options. Graphite sourced from Japan since no US processing. Talent competition fierce in LA hard tech ecosystem, but nuclear's compelling mission helps. National labs charge hundreds of thousands just to clear testing pits.
Most exciting trend is bringing recently shuttered plants back online - relatively cheap and fast. Google partnering with NextEra on Duane Arnold (shut down 5 years ago), Microsoft with Constellation on Three Mile Island. Grid demand shifted from flat for 20+ years to 5% annual growth due to data centers, creating backlog across all energy sources.
Julia DeWahl of Antares on building nuclear reactors for the US military
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