Companies like Kairos Power are building new types of reactors with the encouragement of the Trump administration, but their success is far from assured.

TerraPower, a Bill Gates-backed nuclear company, announced a deal with Meta to build up to eight small modular reactors in the U.S. with the first coming online as soon as 2032.

Commercial nuclear reactors all work pretty much the same way. Atoms of a radioactive material split, emitting neutrons. Those bump into other atoms, splitting them and causing them to emit more neutrons, which bump into other atoms, continuing the chain reaction.

The fuel isn't quite everlasting, but it is long-lasting and abundant — and it doesn't produce lung-troubling air pollution. Exposure to high levels of smog can increase risks to lung, obesity, and immune system health, the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences reported.

Standard Nuclear has received the HALEU needed to produce the first full TRISO fuel core for Radiant’s Kaleidos microreactor.

Bill Phillips, technical lead for salt synthesis, says, "It’s a major milestone for American innovation and a clear signal of our national commitment to advanced nuclear energy.”

Small modular reactor startups are betting that mass manufacturing will help them bring costs down. But are they underestimating the challenge?