Transatomic Power CorporationOne Broadway, 14th Floor , Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

We’ve gone back to the beginning of the nuclear industry to explore another path.

The nuclear industry of the 1950s was defined by an inexhaustible optimism and rigorous scientific thinking. Anything was possible, and nuclear energy promised to power the world. Revolutionary designs were prolific. Today, however, this technological diversity has been narrowed, and the industry has become locked into one design: the light water reactor. We’re challenging this strategy and have returned to the beginning to explore another path, and another design – the molten salt reactor. This simple reactor design, updated with modern technology and materials, has the potential to revolutionize the nuclear industry.

Fossil fuels currently dominate the world’s energy economy. We can change this. 

Our reactor generates carbon-free electricity at a price that is less expensive than coal — we can replace the coal plants coming offline in the US, and serve as an alternative to new coal plants being built internationally. We are a low-cost, environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuels; we can power the world while keeping it clean.

WE’RE DISRUPTING NUCLEAR ENERGY AS WE KNOW IT.

Transatomic Power was founded in 2011 by Dr. Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie, graduates of the MIT Nuclear Engineering Department, and honorees of the TIME “30 Under 30,” Technology Review “35 Under 35,” Forbes “30 Under 30,” and National Geographic “Emerging Explorers.” Ray Rothrock, an MIT nuclear engineer, emeritus General Partner at Venrock, and former Chair of the National Venture Capital Association, serves as Chairman of the Board. The company is backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and other private funds.

LET’S TALK ABOUT NUCLEAR.

Nuclear reactors, like most power plants, make electricity in a pretty simple way: by generating heat to create steam, which drives a turbine. The different methods of generating heat, however, make a great difference in the design and its impact on the environment. Fossil fuel plants produce heat by burning coal, oil, or natural gas. These fuels can provide cheap electricity, but they also generate large amounts of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.  Nuclear reactors generate their heat via nuclear fission. This process unlocks vast amounts of energy from a small amount of fuel, and doesn’t generate carbon dioxide. In the core of the reactor there is a large, stable number of nuclear fission reactions, which occur when a uranium atom is struck by a neutron and splits in two, releasing additional neutrons and energy in the form of heat.