US start-up, The Nuclear Company (TNC), which emerged from stealth mode in 2024, has opened the company’s primary engineering and construction office in Columbia, South Carolina. The company also announced the completion of its Series A funding round, led by Eclipse. The round includes follow-on investments from all prior investors. Those include CIV, whose co-founder Patrick Maloney also co-founded and serves as Chairman of The Nuclear Company. Additional investors include True Ventures, Wonder Ventures, Goldcrest Capital, and MCJ Collective.

Joining TNC’s board is Greg Reichow, partner at Eclipse and a former executive at Tesla overseeing global manufacturing, factory/automation engineering, supply chain, and product excellence.

“US reindustrialisation depends heavily on the availability of low cost and clean baseload power. However, our country’s ability to scale nuclear power is one of the most critical challenges of our time,” Reichow said. “The Nuclear Company is taking a disciplined, scalable approach to nuclear construction – one that mirrors the industrialisation and rapid scaling we’ve seen in other sectors like automotive and aerospace. Eclipse is thrilled to support this team as they execute on their ambitious mission.”

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster noted: “When South Carolina attracts businesses like The Nuclear Company, it strengthens our economy, creates new opportunities for our people, and reinforces our position as a leader in energy innovation. Reliable, affordable energy is essential for our future prosperity, and this investment marks another step toward securing a bright future for our state.”

Despite the need for nuclear’s firm baseload power, the biggest challenges facing the industry, which creates high-paying head-of-household jobs, are that nuclear projects are almost always over budget and behind schedule, TNC said. “The Nuclear Company, which is evaluating sites to support a 6-gigawatt fleet of reactors, aims to avoid those pitfalls through its design-once, build-many methodology, which lowers costs and minimises delays. This approach leverages advanced construction and manufacturing methods alongside cutting-edge digital technologies, such as AI-driven site selection, real-time construction updates, and integrated supply chain logistics.”

Key to TNC’s approach is using proven, licensed technology, which will allow the company says will allow it to achieve significant cost reductions and shortened project timelines, “meeting its commitment to on-time, on-budget deployment of its first fleet of nuclear reactors in America”.

TNC Co-founder & CEO Jonathan Webb said America’s leadership in nuclear power is threatening to slip away. “China has built 37 reactors in the past decade, with 30 more under construction and another 80 expected in the next 10 years. In that time, America has built only two reactors, with none under construction. We can’t stand to lose nuclear and its technology development like we lost manufacturing and all of its jobs. Beyond that, AI and the electrification of everything need nuclear’s firm, clean baseload power.”

TNS’s team includes people with experience in power utilities, in particular Southern Nuclear. Others have entrepreneurial and military experience.

Jonathan Webb, Co-Founder & CEO, founded Inspire (subsequently acquired by Shell); co-founded Independence Energy (acquired by NRG Founding Team) and Energy Plus (acquired by NRG).

Kiran Bhatraju, Co-Founder and Board Member, founded Arcadia Power; co-founded American Efficient; and is a Fellow of the Truman National Security Project.

Jason Thompson, President & Chief Financial Officer is a former CFO of Redwood Materials. He served in US Navy and National Security Agency.

Joe Klecha, Chief Nuclear Officer, was VP Construction & VP Operations, Testing, & Startup at Southern Company (Vogtle 3&4) and Operations Director, Southern Company (Vogtle 1&2); Fleet Operations Director, Duke Energy; Operations, Navigation, & Safety at the US Navy Nuclear Pipeline.

Stephen Kuczynski, Chair, Industry Working Group, was Former Chairman and CEO at Southern Nuclear; was 27 years at Exelon with key roles at Dresden and Byron NPPs.

Kevin Stafford, VP Construction, served as Bechtel site manager for Vogtle 3&4; prior roles included construction manager of multiple areas for Bechtel and construction engineering manager for Westinghouse.

David Woods, VP, Engineering, pioneered the use of AI and data-driven approaches to reduce construction timelines. Director of Engineering, Southern Nuclear (Vogtle 3&4); senior reactor operator at Exelon and Constellation Energy; nuclear machinist mate for US Navy.

Glen Chick, Executive Advisor, was a former EVP at Southern Nuclear responsible for the completion of construction of Vogtle 3&4. Prior work at Exelon as site vice president and plant manager.

TNC notes on its website that “Russia is building reactors for itself and in countries around the world, including Turkey, Egypt, India, and Bangladesh. Russia currently dominates international reactor sales, with technology that it has proven it can build at home for itself.”

China “builds reactor designs from around the world and its own development, including copies of advanced American designs, and is building more reactors than the rest of the world put together”. China “will likely take the world lead on nuclear capacity within the next decade”.

Although both Russia and China are developing novel reactor designs, “the vast majority of their domestic construction and overseas orders are for large traditional reactors”. TNC adds: “If the US is not building its best designs at home, we will struggle to sell overseas. If we cannot sell overseas, our allies and economic partners will either continue to rely on other forms of energy or go to our competitors to build nuclear plants.”

TNC says its approach can be articulated through its four-pronged strategy:

  • Fleet-Scale Deployment: We are building at fleet scale, not project scale, enabling us to capture significant efficiency gains and cost savings, and enabling the reshoring of American industry.
  • Broad Industry Coalition: Fleet scale requires a broad coalition of industry partners for successful project planning and execution. We build that coalition to scale.
  • Comprehensive Programme Management: We synergy-capture programme management applicable across existing and new deployments.
  • Public-Private Partnerships: We leverage federal, state, and local government engagement and support along with industry to re-establish a US commercial nuclear leadership position.