Doug Bernauer

Radiant CEO, mass produced portable nuclear reactors starting in 2026!
Formerly 12 years SpaceX - Electrical and Systems, Grasshopper Rocket, Boring Co., Mars

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Deployable in weeks pairs up perfectly with our truck-in nuclear! We need even more micronuclear scale up!

[Seth Cohen @OverReactor1776]

Mavria’s mission is to ensure that America delivers frontier infrastructure as quickly as we release frontier models.  

Even though we founded Mavria in June, our story started back in 2025.  @adamblake, @nickporadek, and I spent over a year of our lives fighting inside the US government to help secure a better future.  In the modern world, all progress is just a wrapper on energy.  When imagination outpaces power delivery, the unyielding laws of physics always win.  Accelerating our society up the Kardashev scale meant, and still means, rethinking how we arrange atoms in the physical world, no different than rethinking the architecture behind AI models.  We found stagnation across nuclear, transmission, and scientific research, and we did our level best to help.  But there is always more work to do.  And in my life, I’ve always looked for gradients, places where I can best leverage my time and energy for the most impact.  

Thankfully, I’ve had the privilege of learning how to deconstruct existing industrial processes and how we govern them alongside some of America’s most brilliant founders, leaders, thinkers, and builders.  That’s why, when Adam and Nick asked me to join them on something new, I said yes.  I knew that if we set out to build one of the most important industrial platforms of the 21st century, we would succeed.  Since starting, we’ve assembled a team of incredible people and supporters who share our vision, and, more importantly, our refusal to accept a different outcome.

Mavria starts, but by no means ends, with Terrain, a modular data center platform that will revolutionize AI infrastructure across the United States.  When we say Terrain will deploy in weeks, not months or years, we mean it.  Faster deployment means shorter time to tokens, but it also means less disruption to our host communities, the most important partners in our entire ecosystem.  In the same way we helped shift the dialogue around nuclear and the fuel cycle, Mavria will work with towns, counties, states, and the federal government to help change how average Americans feel about their future in a world of abundant intelligence.   

Like nuclear, data centers get a bad rep (in some cases, deservedly so).  But, also like nuclear, America needs more data centers.  Growing up, watching the Jetsons, I always felt robbed of the nuclear-powered future that society promised to my parents.  What I thought was a failure of imagination turned out to be a failure of execution and loss of social license.  Yet, support for nuclear power increases the closer you get to an operating nuclear plant.  We see a world where data centers also get more popular the closer you get to Terrain.  We’ve learned the lesson; don’t stop building, just build better.

Scaling Terrain will allow us to develop the tools we need to tackle other critical infrastructure projects, too.  When we prove ourselves in data centers, Mavria will then manufacture products upstream from Terrain until adding more compute seems as simple as using it.  And then, we will build even more.  Keeping our promise means that America can keep its promise as the land of opportunity, a world where anyone with a dream, tenacity, and a refusal to believe in “no” can cobble together the resources to build something extraordinary.  It means that when my children watch the Jetsons, they will not long for a fumbled future.  

Come help us keep our promise.  Come build the future with Mavria:
https://t.co/GFa8ZKqFEz

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

It's about to get hot!!

[Radiant @RadiantNuclear]

Radiant has secured U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) approval of its Documented Safety Analysis for Kaleidos, making it the only microreactor to be reviewed and approved by the DOE for full power operations.

The approval is not just for criticality, but for Radiant’s full power, full temperature testing at the Idaho National Laboratory. Radiant will test the complete reactor system using the same design it will manufacture at scale.

Next up in the path to commercialization: Readiness Review.

Read more here 🔗 https://t.co/9mlhK6YHmO

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Honored to be listed, thanks a16z! I know many of these companies and founders, this is really becoming a robust network of us workaholic nerds who love the future!

[a16z @a16z]

The 2026 American Dynamism 50 is here: our annual list of 50 companies, from within the a16z portfolio and beyond, building for America's future.

This year's theme is Production is Deterrence. "America's ability to prevent conflict depends on what it can build, how fast it can deliver, and how long it can keep going."

A new generation of defense companies is moving from prototypes to full-scale production, and the industrial base has to keep pace. This year's list is organized around three pillars:

1. Systems: the drones, ships, missiles, aircraft, and spacecraft that deter conflict.

2. Factories: the plants, tools, and software that build them.

3. Inputs: the materials and power they're made of and run on.

Get all three right, and the impact reaches well beyond defense, to skilled jobs, revitalized communities, and the supply chains behind energy, housing, and everyday goods.

Meet all 50: https://t.co/vqCQtXPEBm

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@klaehnr @elonmusk @SciGuySpace @grok re-read what i wrote-> "multi MegaWatt scale for high thrust"

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@elonmusk @SciGuySpace Ion thrusters, while low thrust, are ~8x higher fuel efficiency than rocket so you could get down to like 1 refueling, do the orbit raise and transfer with Ion. MW scale nuclear electric on a massive thruster array helps with the low thrust issues.

[Radiant @RadiantNuclear]

Our President and COO @torishiv sat down with Align Venture Partner @greerlove to talk about what's driving demand for microreactors, how Radiant is bringing them to market, and why Align chose to invest in Radiant. Watch the full conversation here: https://t.co/ki1rdv1A4h

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Thank you for your efforts Adam! I was immediately impressed by your commitment to achieving great things no matter how challenging. Excited to see what you're doing next!

[adamblake @adamblake]

I’ve never posted on X.

Last year I was at Department of Energy with an unusual view into what’s happening across AI, energy, and infrastructure. The old systems can’t handle what’s coming.

There’s just an insane amount we need to build in the physical world, and the opportunity and urgency are greater than ever.

Every able person should be contributing to the effort, and I’ve gotten back into the arena to do my part. More to come soon.

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

"Dome, Sweet Dome"

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@Waksman84 Jeff, this is a huge achievement, few know the lengths you've gone to in making this happen! I'm excited to deliver many reactors!

[Radiant @RadiantNuclear]

Thanks for having us on to discuss the Janus program and our $750M award! @CNBC @torishiv https://t.co/k5p3wBaDvU

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Sometimes when a star dies, it leaves some energy behind. Our nuclear fuel is a 5 billion year old gift from the milky way. This brings new meaning to the phrase "Thank your lucky stars!"

[Adam Draper ⏻ @AdamDraper]

I don't think people understand how big of a deal this is yet.

The team @RadiantNuclear has built a product that is a nuclear reactor, where historically reactor companies build buildings.

Historic.

[a16z @a16z]

Radiant: Beyond Prosperity

Mass-produced microreactors mean nuclear power anywhere. Behind the supermarket, on a military base, and eventually beyond the star we were born at. Radiant is building them.

@DougBernauer @torishiv @RadiantNuclear

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Great data on the electric power situation in the US, and our imperative to fix that to enable prosperity! every technology spiking right now needs electric power

[Tori Shivanandan @torishiv]

https://t.co/UJQTdixxGZ

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@DonBakerUSA 5 years. We bring you a new one and take it back to factory, so all nuclear stuff happens there.

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Our totally portable, containerized reactor is about to ship out, I'm staying on top of things here!

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@danielchapman @cgaunerd Ty, glad you saw this! good to hear from you !!

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

@TJCordova5 This can power 1000 homes, or a military base or a large business. I say use all the solar you can, the sun shines for free if you can fit panels.. At night or during weeks of cloud cover use this instead of charging stationary batteries by day, free up more batteries for EVs.

[Tori Shivanandan @torishiv]

https://t.co/mrifmwxMvA

[Doug Bernauer @DougBernauer]

Happy 250th! American Values Reflected in Hardware