How Nuclear Startups Are Funding the Future with Cancer Drugs and Side Hustles
Axios2 days ago
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How Nuclear Startups Are Funding the Future with Cancer Drugs and Side Hustles

Nuclear Energy Startups
nuclear
startups
fusion
energy
innovation
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Summary:

  • Nuclear startups like TerraPower are using side products such as cancer drug ingredients to fund their long-term energy goals.

  • TerraPower is scaling production of a medical isotope for cancer treatment, with trials ongoing and expected to be highly lucrative.

  • Fusion startups including TAE Technologies and Commonwealth Fusion Systems are pursuing offshoot revenues in areas like life sciences and superconductors.

  • SHINE Technologies employs a four-phase strategy, selling fusion energy to defense customers at up to $200,000 per kilowatt hour to support electricity generation efforts.

  • These strategies help offset costs for expensive nuclear projects, though there's a risk of permanent pivots if primary goals take too long to achieve.

The Unexpected Path to Nuclear Innovation

The journey to futuristic nuclear power is long and winding, but it's being paved with surprising side products—like cancer drugs.

The Big Picture

Several nuclear startups are chasing profits from offshoot products that stem from their scientific innovations. These include ingredients for cancer-treating drugs, which help fund their long-term goals of profiting from advanced nuclear energy.

Why It Matters

Building hundreds of nuclear power plants—including advanced fission and fusion technologies—offers a promising way to meet rapid power demand and combat climate change. However, funding these expensive and complex scaling efforts is crucial, as capitalism demands profits much sooner.

Driving the News: TerraPower's Cancer Drug Breakthrough

TerraPower, an advanced nuclear energy company founded nearly 20 years ago, is scaling up production of a key cancer drug ingredient—a medical isotope, or radioactive atoms used for medical diagnoses and treatment.

  • This discovery was made nine years ago as a side project.
  • The drug is currently in trials, with results expected in the next couple of years, according to CEO Chris Levesque.

Levesque stated, "It's going to be a very lucrative business for us, and of course it fulfills our mission of helping people with nuclear technology." Proceeds from isotope sales will help offset investments needed for building their first reactors while reducing costs.

Initially targeting a 2028 start for its first advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming, TerraPower has pushed this to 2030 due to fuel shortages.

State of Play in Fusion Startups

This offshoot business strategy is even more common in fusion energy startups, partly because fusion is a less-tapped innovation space with longer timelines.

  • Companies like TAE Technologies are exploring side revenues in power management and life sciences.
  • Commonwealth Fusion Systems is developing high-temperature superconducting cable technology.

Zoom In: SHINE Technologies' Four-Phase Strategy

SHINE Technologies is explicit in its approach, pursuing a four-phase plan where the final phase is generating fusion electricity. Earlier phases leverage products from fusion reactions for sectors like medical isotopes and defense.

CEO Greg Piefer explained that the company dropped "Medical" from its name in 2021 to clarify its identity as a fusion energy company. "We are just selling fusion to higher-paying customers than electricity," he said.

By the Numbers: High-Value Side Products

Defense-sector customers, including jet engine and rocket manufacturers, pay SHINE as much as $200,000 per kilowatt hour of fusion energy. In contrast, average rates for equivalent heat are around five cents per kilowatt hour, with electricity closer to 20 cents.

Reality Check: Potential Pivots and Progress

While these companies are expanding into faster profit-making products, there's a possibility that some might pivot permanently if the primary nuclear business takes too long.

Piefer noted, "So far, the majority of our owners really like the energy play and feel this is a differentiated and smart approach to it. Realities can change, market conditions change, and at some point, it could come to that: 'Alright, this fusion stuff [for electricity] is too hard.' But right now, we are making awesome progress on the cost curve."

The Other Side: Skepticism and Long-Term Vision

Former Vice President Al Gore, now a cleantech investor, is warming up to fission energy for its potential in meeting AI power demand but remains skeptical of fusion. He remarked with subtle sarcasm, "I had my first congressional hearing on fusion 45 years ago, and the experts on the panel said it's 50 years out. So, I'm getting excited."

Bottom Line: Broader Impacts of Nuclear Endeavors

Regardless of when or if advanced fission and fusion power plants are built, these efforts are already yielding benefits. Andrew Holland, head of the Fusion Industry Association, compared it to the space race, which led to civilian innovations like improved computing and new alloys. "We'll look back and realize how important it was," he predicted.

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