The nuclear industry is in a renaissance haze. Old plants are being renovated, and investors shower startups with cash. In the last few weeks of 2025 only, nuclear start raised $1.1 billiongenerally in investor optimism that smaller nuclear reactors will succeed where the wider industry has recently stumbled.
Traditional nuclear reactors are large infrastructures. The newest reactors built in the US – Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia – contain tens of thousands of tons of concrete, are supported by fuel assemblies 14 feet high, and produce more than 1 gigawatt of electricity each. But they are also eight years late and more than $20 billion over budget.
A new crop of nuclear startups are hoping that by shrinking the reactors, they will be able to solve the problem. Need more power? Just add a reactor. Smaller reactors, they argue, can be built using mass production techniques, and as companies produce more parts, they must be better at making them, which should reduce costs.
The magnitude of the benefits is as an expert still researchbut nuclear initiation now depends on more than zero.
But manufacturing is not easy. Look at Tesla’s experience: The company is struggling to mass-produce the Model 3 – and it’s benefiting the automotive industry, where the US still has significant expertise. US nuclear startups don’t have that advantage.
“I have some friends who work in the supply chain for nuclear, and they can laugh at like five to ten materials that are not made in the United States,” Milo Wernergeneral partner at DCVC, told TechCrunch. “We have to buy it abroad. We have forgotten how to make it.”
Werner knows a thing or two about manufacturing. Before becoming an investor, he worked at Tesla leading the introduction of new products, and before that, he did the same at FitBit, launching four factories in China for the wearables company. Now, in addition to investing in DCVC, Werner has founded the NextGen Industry Group, which works to implement new technologies in the manufacturing sector.
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When companies of any size want to make something, they face two main challenges, Werner said. One of them is capital, which is often the biggest constraint because factories are not cheap. Fortunately for the nuclear industry, this will not be a problem. “They are flooding the capital now,” he said.
But the nuclear industry is not immune to another challenge that all manufacturers face, the lack of human capital. “We haven’t built an industrial facility in 40 years in the United States,” Werner said. As a result, we have lost our muscle memory. “It’s like we sit on the couch watching TV for 10 years, then get up and try a marathon the next day. Not good.”
After decades of offshoring, the US has no experience with factory construction and operation. “There are certainly some people in the United States who do this, but we don’t have the number of people necessary to have everyone on an experienced manufacturing staff.” They’re not just talking about machine operators, but everyone from factory floor supervisors to CFOs and board members.
The good news is that Werner sees many startups, nuclear and otherwise, building early versions of products close to their technical teams. “It pulls manufacturers closer to the United States because it allows them to have that cycle of improvement.”
To reap the benefits of mass manufacturing, it can help startups of all stripes to start small and scale up. “Really leaning towards modularity is very important for investors,” he said. The modular approach helps companies starting to produce small volumes in order to collect data on the manufacturing process. Ideally, the data will show improvement over time, which can put investors at ease.
The benefits of mass manufacturing do not happen overnight. Companies will often predict cost reductions that can lead to learning through manufacturing, but it may take longer than expected. “It often takes years, like a decade, to get there,” Werner said.