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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- From launching SpaceX's 1st rockets, to realizing the need for mobile-nuclear reactors, and founding Radiant - here's my interview with Doug Bernauer for Episode 48 of S³ • The future of Nuclear ...
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It's incredible how many of the most interesting founders and companies have come out of SpaceX.
Even if SpaceX somehow just disappeared tomorrow, that legacy would still be such a big deal.
Like Fairchild and Boeing and Lockheed Martin were for the Boomers…those companies drew the best talent and brightest minds…and those young engineers set up new companies…SpaceX…will spawn great companies and a great company from their successors will do the same…
@@marksmadhousemetaphysicalm2938 It's not even about drawing the best minds. Not only did it draw smart people, it allowed them to practice and build up there skills. I think that's the biggest problem today. A lot of big companies are already built up and it makes it very hard to go and work for them and actually do something extraordinary.
"We can put nuclear power on military vehicles, Nuclear Power saves lives" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 This guy is crazy as hell, Big red flag right there He wants to aid killing people and telling me that nuclear power saves lives. crazy guy 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@zxcaaq
He was talking - if you were listening - about the fact that a HUGE percentage of our losses (our dead and mutilated soldiers) in or around combat environments - tens of thousands of our soldiers, are killed when ambushed for the supplies they carry: water, food, and weapons, but mostly FUEL - while simply being in a convoy that is delivering fuel to keep Forward Operating bases running, tanks and other vehicles fueled, bases lit and cooled or warmed, etc.
He said clearly, and as a veteran who saw casualties by the thousands air-lifted away, I completely agree - they were in convoys, and simply delivering fuel. This has become one of the most dangerous jobs in many fields of combat. If we had small nuclear plants buried a ways from the base (but close enough to be guarded in a hardened bunker), avoiding fuel explosions, and the need to feed the base thousands of gallons of fuel just to keep it going, as well as being able to charge massive batteries, and power the entire base, those casualties could be reduced exponentially, because the demand for 400.00 dollar a gallon fuel would become largely unnecessary - and rations, weapons, and other supplies could be air-dropped to these same bases (you cannot "air-drop" liquid fuel). We would also save enormous amounts of money on fuel.
He is NOT "crazy as hell," you just weren't listening - or have never been stuck on a base that is running out of fuel and food; or driven in a convoy delivering fuel to such a base, and been suddenly surrounded after the first vehicle hits an IED, and suddenly a huge attack force is cutting the convoy to pieces, and ends up killing everyone in the convoy, taking the vehicles, and then taking the fuel for their own use. He's not crazy - you're just uninformed...
Like nothing existed before SpaceX… silly young punk. Guess what, we’ve already been to the moon and back so many times it became boring. Bill gates has been working on micro nuclear for a decade now …
"generally atoms are easier to deal with than people" ... never a truer word said.
Literally ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is easier to deal with than people.
People, and everything else, are made of atoms.
“I would work 100 hour weeks” with a baby. So basically you’re telling us your home life is horrible and your wife probably cheats on you because you’re literally never home. You’re literally doing an interview on Mother’s Day…. This speaks volumes… go be with your family wtf is wrong with you.
Doug Bernauer is legit. We need more like him, yes please.
"We can put nuclear power on military vehicles, Nuclear Power saves lives" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 This guy is crazy as hell, Big red flag right there He wants to aid killing people and telling me that nuclear power saves lives. crazy guy 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@zxcaaqThumbs Down. Did you even listen to the interview with your brain open? So many military lives are lost- even on peacekeeping and peacemaking operations- in CONVOY operations, 70% of which, it turns out, carry diesel fuel for base generators- diesel fuel that could be replaced by a portable nuclear reactor. (Another possibility: replacing diesel generators at remote bases with rectennas to receive beamed solar power from orbiting solar power satellites- something that was officially studied by the Pentagon some ten years ago). To have American soldiers lose their lives guarding fuel that need not be there at all if the base’s power source had simply been replaced with a portable nuclear reactor would seem to be a no-brainer to any thinking person. - Dave Huntsman
Based on what? I've seen numerous very intelligent nuclear engineers and companies go bankrupt. I wouldn't bet a nickle on it, to be honest. Nothing against the effort though...
mobile nucleur power sorry but this guy crazy , we cant even get it going for more than 30 seconds which was tested in japan
@@ravd8082 lmao you and the other commenters here have no clue what you’re talking about. Mobile nuclear power has been a thing for quite a while. Ever heard of nuclear powered subs? Also, the soviets had a small mobile nuclear reactor the size of a generator years ago. The engineering has been proven for decades
Commercializing nuclear is an insane idea! I hope they become successful!
It's always been commercial.
Nothing new
It hasn't always been commercial. It's always had government grants and subsidies. Once it becomes just a matter of manufacturing then it will actually be commercial because it won't need land to operate
@@RedRyan Who do you think builds and maintains "big" reactors?
@@TheChipMcDonald but big reactors don't have the ability to expand sites and grow when needed like many other commercial processes do. Also if the city or county issues municipal bonds to pay for the project it is hardly commercial. Perhaps industrial at that point but a utility is not the same as a diesel generator manufacturer.
Are you starting to feel the difference needed in funding
The Navy have not only been operating small nuclear reactors with a decent safety record for many decades, those reactors are highly mobile! Further research is being done to increase the safety of small reactors for civilian utility applications. This effort needs to progress, not suppressed.
I believe the cellphone could be traced back to STS wireless as required by the NAVY.
Civilians are too afraid of the technology
@@ledgamer3554Safer to breathe particulates from traditional fuel sources, and die 5 years earlier than you otherwise would, than to have scary Homer Simpson nuclear power
Smh..
@@CHURCHISAWESUM scawy
Do you have any opinions on the molten salt reactors?
Appreciate the founder speaking and shining light on Mining. Really important and US is dead behind.
The elements are not evenly distributed across national boundaries. National boundaries are man made and no longer useful to civilization, the greatest game ever. The false competition narratives today are creating more conflicts distracting humans from the serious work like this that is critical to a decent livable future
One of the best bumper stickers I saw growing up, before I became an engineer ,was “If it’s not grown, it must be mined!“. Most of today’s snowflakes sadly don’t understand that🤷
@@chammockutubei can tell you haven’t grown up near any mines have you
@@ChronicAndIronic, Yes, mostly surface mine completely surround this area where I live, but I work around the country with some work in Korea and South Africa. I engineer underground Aquifer and Borehole Thermal Energy Storage Systems (so called ATES & BTES) and have done some preliminary work on “CTES” which utilizes dry or flooded mines, caverns or caves for thermal storage. I’m a mechanical engineer, not a petroleum engineer or a mining engineer, but the majority of my work is either underground or industrial. Why do you ask?
Its funny, the US is the leader for small nuclear reactors that power submarines, aircraft carriers, and a few other select ships. These mini reactors can power floating cities, but somehow we have to invest millions to research small mobile nuclear reactors. The size of which we already have installed on ships. I am def not a nuclear energy scientist, but this has always puzzled me since the technology has been around since the 60s.
Damn is it refreshing to hear people talking their philosophy of net positive to society. Let's popularize this sentiment. It is a message that should be going viral.
Pure common sense. This was life in the 90s. Before woke..
Doug is the kind of person who will go down in history as the guy who made nuclear affordable for everyone !
He is on the way to achieve a great breakthrough ! 👏👏👍
Even doing it for spacecraft. Or bases is the right direction.
He said everything that can't use stored forms of energy is a worthless creature... what a great guy
Government won't let him.
@@texrifleman Then move.
@@ghost307 Thats a silly response.
I’m glad someone is working on this , I’ve have been preaching for years why don’t they produce smaller Nuclear generating systems that are safer and smaller , we would be self sufficient and not need oil or gas.”build it they will come”
The U.S.S.R. did.
How is this different than what’s powering a nuclear submarine? Are they re-inventing the wheel?
I dont think you want your neighbor having a nuclear disaster
These are the true heros of humanity.
What a great man! "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit”. This is the mind set that makes society’s great!
Agreed
“Leave something important behind, remember everything is temporary” - Love it 💯
Such an important topic, and such an effort to supress anything nuclear, all around - process for the sake of process, missinformation, old beliefs. Nuclear saves lifes!
It’s because the majority of the climate movement is not about fixing anything but protecting their power by ensuring the continued existence of crisis. France once had 70%’of its power generation from nuclear power and the climate crisis has caused France to decide to lower that to 50% by 2025.
The crisis must live on for as long as possible lest the fear mongers be forced to create a new crisis.
@@somenygaard 100%
Both of you people are paranoid and delusional.
@@somenygaard Or you know, it could have something to do with TMI, Fukushima, Chernobyl. It works great, right up until it doesn't. And then the incident is measured in decades, centuries, and trillions of dollars.
@@moki123gby the way, unlike you, I was affects affected by Chernobyl. Oh my first birthday, just 70 miles away . It changed our lives completely. And yet, here I sit, still being less of a scared pansy than you. Weird.
Great interview, thank you for letting him answer without interrupting
Holy mother , some great logic discussions. Excellent deep overview dive into build up of logic why a company was created. Cool engineering story.
The soviets did something like this in the past, but the biggest challenge is to ensure they're serviced and maintained. You'll need a lot of highly skilled workers to do this, thus making it an expensive task. Hope these guys know it and have accounted for it
I'm sure they haven't thought of it 😂
Wouldn't highly trained Optimus robot (or similar) be perfect for this task?
Thank you for mentioning that point, a salient one that should be part of the record.
@@BongoWongoOG Good point, certainly a piece of the puzzle. As you likely know many electronic components are already space qualified ( radiation resistant ) for use in aerospace, so it would not be starting from scratch to engineer emergency responders, etc. as damage control.
They would also just kinda leave them out in the middle of nowhere to run radio arrays and radars. I think the majority of issues they had were people trying to open them up or scrap them
Going critical at five watts is HUGE. That means the safety margin between "on" and "functional" is quite a safe buffer, all things considered.
Agree! I used to operate and maintain nuclear plants in the Navy and almost had a prompt critical event once. Had to scram.
@@lawrenceleske3470 onboard one of the vessels??
@@lawrenceleske3470Wow, the battle short was in then???
Yes. We also saw the vid. Thanks for repeating it and trying to pass it off as original thought.
@lawrenceleske3470 no you didn't.
He mentions saving lives by having less fuel convoys through warzones, but that's not the full extent of it's utility. With how much power a semi-trailer sized reactor can put out effectively indefinitely, recycling wastewater or IRSU condensation or distillation of water on a military outpost to eliminate water convoys also becomes a possibility. With directed energy weapons and high power jammers being deployed as alternatives to hard kill missile and gun based defenses, massive amounts of diesel-free electric power may be able to reduce ammo convoys to an extent as well.
Or can be hit by a hostile missile or captured by insurgents? What can go wrong? As far as a understand, the reactor is running on highly enriched uranium. That is a brilliant idea, to bring this stuff in a warzone.
Thorium is the way
@@docsnider8926m0r0ns like you are why aliens won't talk to us.
It is going to kill a lot more people than it will help. How hard would it be to turn one of these into a bomb? Probably not that hard. Just what the world needs, a whole lot of mobile, undetectable nuclear reactors that you can turn into bombs with instructions from chatGPT. Even if it cant be a nuclear bomb, you could definitely use the energy to create some kind of mega explosion.
Really align with Doug's vision. I wish them nothing but success!
Great interview, glad to hear there are people like Doug out there. Nuclear energy has so many opportunities to be integrated into developing technology. Nuclear reactors routinely make waste products like xenon which can also be used as a propellant in electric rockets. Small reactors will be irreplaceable in moon and mars colonization. The current EV vehicle revolution would gain a great push forward is compact turnkey micro reactors could be used to supplement the power grid by offsetting EV charging load or system load when not charging EVs.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” - Greek Proverb. In the development of space even young men can plant the seeds of technology that he may never see fully used, but will grow because of him. Doug is one of those men.
Nuclear should have been innovated long ago. Im glad to see these steps finally being taken
I'm so thankful people like Doug Bernauer exist
The most exciting startup ideas are the ones that will soon be enabled by Starship’s insane payload to orbit capability. I hope we get more S3’s like this one! SO AWESOME!!!
Gem of a guy.
That responsible talk makes me want to heartily wish him all success. 🎉❤
Best content on youtube, so good hearing about these new companies trying "crazy" things. Love the content, keep it up!
Thanks for the interview and Share. hope for a Peaceful use before military lock it away. Good luck Doug & Team.
We need to embrace nuclear! This guy interviews very well. Seems super genuine and definitely an engineer but has what it takes to work with people
While I, as an R&D engineer, do feel respect and admiration for this guys experience and accomplishments it does leave a bad taste in my mouth hearing this guy talk about 100-hour workweeks and similar stuff knowing he had a (or a few) very young child at the same time.
That combined with how they 50/50 acknowledge/joke-away the fact that this it’s mother’s day *does* leave some bitternes.
I agree, but without knowing his situation, it's hard to judge him specifically, however his 100-hour sentiment should not be promoted or expected of others who are not wired the same way. Personally, I would have edited out the mention of Mother's Day-poor optics.
If your job is just a job, 40 hours can be unbearable. If you love everything about your job the amount of hours you work is meaningless.
Elon Musk's oldest son hates him and has completely disowned him. Elon blames "woke" and then talks about living at the Tesla factory and working 24/7 for the years when his son was growing up and fails to see the connection.
My dad did about the same thing.
History sadly is riddled with examples of people who had an immensely positive impact on the world but neglected their own families. don’t know the right answer and not even sure there is one.
“Bribing guards” always worked exceptionally well.
From SpaceX with love 👌
What a Great Interview, full of wisdom and insight... I love how he sees engineering as art... the art of solving using innovation. We need MORE people like this and LESS Government interference!
3:33 Department of Energy Authorization License Path.
17:15 His philosophy resonates with me to the core. This is the exact sentiment leading me to go back to school at 45 to make a difference, and help mankind move forward in nuclear energy, any way I can. Mr. Bernauer, I will be knocking on your door in a few years. I have high hopes you will navigate through the licensing bureaucracy by the time I finish an Engineering program.
People like him push humanity forward ❤
Thanks for sharing this amazing talk
His comment about story telling along with Elon Musk's comment "The best part is no part." both need to be taught in engineering schools of all kinds and levels around the world.
Excellent interview. Very interesting and hope Radiant can make it happen.
Thanks.
Facinating interview. Two big takeaways.
1: It's great that a long term SpaceX employee is "the guy"! Lends a lot of credence to the mission. Someone with a 12 year track record at SpaceX is definitely mega-competent.
2: It's great that he saw the need to move it out of SpaceX. The design it, build it, fire it up, watch it fail, and then iterate, is probably not the ideal path for nuclear-power development ‼️😮😮😮
This SpaceX Engineer figured a way to shield a nuclear reactor from radiation. Wait, no he didn't. If he did it would have been a headline in every media platform on planet.
Bro! Must is such great leader, he does not just harvest great minds, but motivates them enough to quit his company to come up with even other solutions to his great grand dream. Humans living in multi planets to save us from our certain extension
The main problem with nuclear is perception as soon as people hear nuclear or radiation they being misinformed get frightened if a nuclear reactor becomes sub critical at failure is contained and cooled down then its safe so I hope this success nuclear is the future !
next week on s3...creating a thermo nuclear bomb using two broken microwaves and a fork
Tony stark built it in a cave
I have two old microwaves and a fork , I never realized
@@david7384 WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!
Let’s freaking go!!
20:29 thank goodness he talked about details of design. He has many advantages!
What a breath of fresh air. I can tell you l have often looked at the question how to make portable nuclear generators. Including the work accomplished at Stanford research group in the 50’s proven small pilot plant discovery’s were caned. I’m a layman in this field. I wish your research every possible success! Thanks for trying to turn your project a usable reality!
It is already done, for example on Russian icebreakers
Good to see smart driven people that know hard work makes things happen still exist in our current world. We need more big thinkers resolving problems.
Any chance you will ever make a podcast out of this? would really enjoy having these long format interviews as a podcast as well, as it's difficult to find the time to watch on youtube but listening on commutes etc would be great.
Bro just get TH-cam premium lol
Just listen on TH-cam no viewing
Or just download the mp3....
19:49 "Atom and nutrons ... are easy to deal with compared to people." That is true business experience talking.
Pretty awesome that he points out neutronics as one of the first interesting thing to mention about nuclear. Cool. It's a nice engineering discipline to specialize in.
Honestly, really good questions and answers. Solid interview here. Hoping the best for this company
I will be investing in these guys. Radiant has a strong team who are determined to innovate in this industry
Radiation Therapy is the greatest use of nuclear energy. It uses diagnostic images to find the spot and high energy X-rays and particles to treat.
This is such an awesome video. I have a lot of respect for this guys ethos and intelligence.
This is AWESOME. Thanks for the interview, and hoping for the best on making nuclear affordable!
Great guy , purity of thought for future generations. I wonder if the work South African has done on pebble bed reactors will be useful. All this research was shelved as no investors came forth I believe as at the time nuclear was an unspeakable horror. The usefulness described in this chat has opened the doors again. Good luck young man. May your success follow your admirable ambition.
Brilliant work, men like this will make this world and other planets a better place to live. Bravo!
YIMBY, I like that.
I've been saying for years I'd happily have a reactor in my garden!
These are the kind of people who make America great!
Truly, he is a great American and a great person.It was a wonderful interview of a brilliant mind.
This guy doesn't sound suicidal at all....hope it stays that way
I can hear the hopefulness in your keystrokes
In order for SMRs to be successful the regulations need to be relaxed compared to full size reactors. This is why so many of these projects are failing. The regulatory costs end up being much greater than these companies predict.
This guy is much more valuable than Musk. He is actually working on solving the fundamental power generation problem we and much of the world has
No offense, but your statement is an oxymoron. Elon is successful because of his philosophy-a philosophy Doug shares. Without Elon-the human-and his respective ventures (e.g., SpaceX, Boring Co., Starlink, Neuralink, Hyperloop, Tesla, OpenAI, etc.), talented people like Doug would not have a catalyzing platform to hone their talents, refine their mission, and launch their own ventures like Radiant.
As producing power gets cheaper the utilities will just charge more for the distribution.
Ding-ding...already happening here in Connecticut. We source our power out of state because of high in-state prices, but obviously we're still on the hook for the in-state utility distribution/supply rates.
Isn't this a new design on the Submarine nuclear power plants.
It is a great concept and I think it is an important future product for different markets.
Excellent and informative presentation. I learned a lot. This guy is sharp, innovative and visionary in his thinking. The most responsible and uplifting thing we can do is leave humanity in a better state than we found it.
The native Australian bird that is making the bushfire crisis worse by picking up embers and dropping them in dry fields to flush out their prey is the Whistling Kite, Black Kite, and Brown Falcon1. These birds are also known as 'firehawks'1. They have been seen carrying lit branches to spread fires in Australia12. Experts say the behaviour is intentional so they can force prey into the open1.
We need more people like this.
The US Navy already had mobile nuclear reactors for bases and subs. Russians use these and also sources of radiation for remote long-term unmanned communication retranslators in Siberia. Space exploration also uses radiation sources for ion thrust. Meanwhile US has been producing hundreds of projects for SMRs for 30 years and built zero. Let's hope he has something in mind.
Super interesting concept. Pretty cool story.
That's also the one thing with SpaceX, even till this day 60-80 hour work week is standard, if you care about being with your kids, definitely not the job for you. The one thing that keeps me away.
This is a very exciting interview.
Ercot in Texas just reported that in 5 years the grid requirements will go from 85gw today to 150gw, and 50% of that increase will come from crypto mining and data centers. Get those two industries to fund this.
the Russians abandoned 1200+ of those scattered around the USSR when it collapsed.
it was a huge international effort to clean them up. Used to power remote radio stations and infrastructure.
Your point being?
@@geoffas information, Apply it as needed.
This comment used to be constructive feedback on the TH-cam title. It’s fixed now :)
"We can put nuclear power on military vehicles, Nuclear Power saves lives" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 This guy is crazy as hell, Big red flag right there He wants to aid killing people and telling me that nuclear power saves lives. crazy guy 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Wow! Doug is great! He presents well also in all the important ways.
Just earned a sub and share from me. Love this content and analysis . Thank god for TH-cam, couldn’t believe how low the sub numbers and know this channel will grow!
Great interview, something to really consider as far as regulation and industry. Right now it lawmakers and business owners when it should be engineers to lawmakers, being direct and mindful should be the standards.
This guy is an absolute legend.
Brilliant scientist engineer. We need more like this person.
Yes. We need small portable modular nuclear and a network of smaller medium reactors
Yes! Finally, This is what I’ve been thinking for a long time, small portable Nuclear power units explained so perfectly here.He should talk to Elon about this.
Absolutely intriguing to see the transition from rocket engineering to nuclear reactors! How do the skills and technologies from SpaceX's rocket development apply to the construction of a mobile nuclear reactor? Also, could you share some insights on the main challenges faced in this unique crossover of aerospace and nuclear technology?
Check out Aalo atomics as well! They have a great story & team building SMRs.
Interview gold. Can you find more exspace ex employees like this? Subscribed. Good questions too! I've seen so many sloppy interviews with engineers.. This was sharp and well thought out.
Would love to hear more about how it will work. The advantages of this type of concept are so obvious!!
I would love to see more of what is in the box, some info on enrichment and control how does all that thermal energy get transferred to the generator? what you are doing is fantastic. you could be leading the way to acceptance of standardized designs. You communicate that engineering done right isn't work it's the most satisfying fun you can have.
I like this guy.
These guys are insanely smart!!
Nuclear is the future. Sooner we get there the better.❤
This was a really well done interview. Thank you!
Super interview!! Doug Bernauer is easy to root for!!
Outstanding concept.....better than solar
23:25 the most important words of an epoch
Small scale nuclear is a clear need for space and exploration.
I hope Doug and the technology he is developing is successful.
this kinda stuff going to be so useful for space exploration, in situ power generation, nuclear batteries, mobile nuke generators
Good to see he is willing to Bribe the guards to nuclear safety. 😄
I could listen to this guy all day.
"An animal could use its muscle to do something but it can't ever get to and understand that it can take a stored form of energy and release it, so it's like the very root of what makes us human. It's the ability to use stored forms of energy"
A counterexample is bees. A bee colony stores energy in the form of honey, to use it at will. Also, animal bodies store energy in the form of fat, very similarly to the way bees use honey.
If Radiant can succeed and prove the safety of their technology, it's going to be a tremendous game changer for the human race.
Great operation. I've been to their office In El Segundo. The guy literally taught himself nuclear fusion during lockdown. I played call of duty...😅😅😅
One comment for Doug, if he ends up getting it: I understand his desire to end up, after a core team, wanting to hire primarily youngsters/fresh outs et al; those who don’t have much mental “baggage” (he didn’t use that word; but, that’s what he meant). But…while I don’t doubt that he means what he says and honestly believes that…and that that CAN DEFINITELY be true….in real life, I have found that AT LEAST 50% of the time, the reason for picking folks that way has an UN-stated, second reason that the manager/leader won’t readily admit to: the youngsters are also much less likely (and much less able) to ask very real, very honest and pointed questions- asked with the very best of problem-solving intentions- that points out things the boss would rather not have to deal with. In short, he’s making things easier on himself by having a more, frankly, blindly obedient team. Just the way Doug phrased things makes it pretty clear to me he is in that category. That’s not a killer- he has really good company- but a tad bit more self-reflection would probably help him and his team more. Cheers. And, on your overall mission……Proceed until apprehended!! - Dave Huntsman