Now that I’m out of government, I can finally respond for myself: Get bent, soyboy. We didn’t do this for “Silicon Valley . . . companies.” We did this for you, for your family, your community, your state, your nation, and your species. Nuclear energy provides the safest, highest density, reliable power available on our planet. My career colleagues at DOE and NRC inspired me to think about nuclear as a way to forge American steel and electrolyze aluminum without releasing particulate matter, to desalinate water in the Middle East and save humanity from resource wars. By rejecting the false narratives and Cold War hysteria, we can secure the next American century while raising whole countries out of poverty. Do you really think I left an incredible career at Kirkland, paid out of pocket for an apartment in DC and dozens of cross-country trips, and left my family on the west coast because I wanted to enrich people I never met before taking this job? I came to D.C. to do something that mattered, to satisfy a driving curiosity (more on that later), and, most importantly, to serve. As I learned more about nuclear energy and its history, I developed a conviction that one nuclear’s biggest issues was a culture of cynicism: nothing new or exciting could happen because it would end in disappointment, and that militated against rocking the boat even a tiny bit. The career staff in government and their industry counterparts lived through dark winters before and stopped believing that warm springs could bloom into summers. I have two core philosophies. First, I believe in ruthless optimism. Rational decision making requires detached risk analysis. But we also cannot win if we believe we can lose. Merging the two requires orienting teams around driving missions. That way, when a real opportunity presents itself, you can take a huge swing. If I take credit for anything—honestly, almost all of the success belongs to the incredible and dedicated people at @ENERGY and @NRCgov—it’s countering the cultural rot and morass that risked forfeiting American excellence. My colleagues and I gave cover to the scientists and engineers, which freed them up to focus on delivering safe power. And, as success materialized, they started to dream again. That’s why the pilot program succeeded, and why I feel confident about the future of NLICs and NRC reform. Nobody needs me anymore because they can innovate on their own. My second core philosophy is to assume positive intent. Avi, I know that you heard about my real motivations from multiple people you interviewed when preparing your hit piece on me. Rather than telling that story, one which could help inspire another generation of people to use their talents for the greater good, you ignored them. Instead, you implied that Peter Thiel recruited me for nefarious purposes. (I’ve never met him, but, @peterthiel, if you’re reading this, I’m a huge fan!) Nuclear regulation starts and ends with safety. I promised everyone I worked with that I would resign before doing or pushing for anything that could compromise public safety. But I also distinguished between real safety and performative bullshit. That’s what the careers came to embrace, too. We love nuclear, why would we do anything that could risk threatening its future? America faces a crossroads. We can either trod a road of cultural decay or hike our way back to the peak of global innovation. Join me on the latter path. Correct the fear mongering and conspiracies and tell the story of America’s great reindustrialization. Tell the story of our public servants, our great entrepreneurs, our scientific dominance. Tell the real story about how DOGE went nuclear.

Anyone I should meet in NYC tonight or tomorrow?

Imagine growing up seeing the demopublican government uniparty be utterly incompetent for your entire life, unable to build new energy, exporting factories, failing over and over at its ambitions in space, becoming bigger and more bloated and slower year after year until it threatens to eat the entirety of the U.S. economy, with the same geriatric 90 year olds piddling away the future year after year Then suddenly you have an administration which accepts a flood of young people in government at every level, from the lowest bureaucrats to the halls of the White House There is fierce debate and plenty of conflict, but there are also motions in policy which we've only dreamed of for decades. Five nuclear reactors turn on under the DOE after decades of stagnation. America returns to orbit the moon Imagine seeing that and the reaction of a sitting senator is “haha yeah let’s put those fuckin kids in jail to make an example!!”

RT @sumisthomas: Pathetic and sad. When I was in college as a conservative Republican volunteering in campaigns and elections; public servi…

It is absolutely disgraceful to threaten young Americans for participating in politics and serving their country.

Joining the Administration hurt my relationships with many friends and family members. I do not regret a single moment of my service, nor should anyone who sacrifices their opportunities to benefit our fellow Americans. When our best and brightest serve the country, we all benefit. Efforts to “deter” patriots from joining the administration reflects a deep, cynical calculus that I find wholly alien. Hoping American policymakers fail in order to create electoral advantages disadvantages our entire republic. Disagreements over policy should not mutate into neighbors hating neighbors. I am not afraid of Slotkin. I am not even angry. I pity her. I live my life in service of greater purposes than partisan politics. Millions of Americans feel the same way. Our generation will rebuild America, and, in the process, we will drag these mutants with us into the Pax Americana.

Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking this is Trump-specific. People like Slotkin have been using every tool at their disposal to intimidate those who don’t agree with their policies when those policies can’t win on the merits for years. Saying this @UChicago, the home of unabashed freedom of inquiry and expression in higher education, is particularly tone deaf. Did anyone at UChicago or @UChiPolitics press her on this or push back at all in the room? If not, equally embarrassing day for our institutional values. UChicago should have students and alumni serving in EVERY administration. America needs you. @ThinkerChicago keep up the good work.

Your nation is calling upon the most cracked engineers. It’s time to work on hard problems that your parents and grandparents will finally understand. Link to apply below 🇺🇸

This rocks. Massive props to @cognition, @imjaredz, @jgebbia, and @ndstudio.

Anyone can build a datacenter, they said

How is the Army securing its installations and tactical power grids against evolving threats? Dr. Jeff Waksman (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment) details the latest energy resilience strategies at this year's AUSA Warriors Corner. Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=Z2G9gjWC…

'correction. we have $440B, not $300B of AUM' thank you @Zurich for being an anchor investor and capital partner of @amppublic and supporting the 2GW @Natl_Compute Grid Trust program it's time to scale the frontier for the public benefit

Deputy Secretary Danly is a force of nature. Energy dominance IS the affordability agenda in action and data centers are the demand signal we need.

The future of nuclear runs through the NLICs!

.@SecretaryWright explains how Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses will help power America’s future. WATCH ⬇️

it's been a privilege to work with @OverReactor1776 and @adamblake on ensuring frontier infrastructure scales predictably in the US - manufacturing gigawatts is hard! excited to unveil what we've been building together soon

BREAKING: NASA and the Department of Energy have signed a new agreement to accelerate nuclear power and propulsion in space, with the first reactor-powered spacecraft targeted for launch in 2028 and a lunar surface reactor planned by 2030. The agreement brings the two agencies together across fuel production, reactor development, testing, launch integration and operations. NASA says Space Reactor-1 Freedom will launch in 2028, moving nuclear propulsion from laboratory development into deep-space operations. That mission is intended to pave the way for Lunar Reactor-1, a fission power system designed to provide continuous electricity for NASA’s future Moon Base through the two-week lunar night and permanently shadowed regions. The reactor could power habitats, communications, rovers, scientific instruments and resource-processing equipment without depending on sunlight. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called it the start of a “Nuclear NASA-era.”

Just now, @NASAAdmin and @SecretaryWright signed a joint MOU to solidify their partnership for the development of space nuclear power. The Golden Age of space exploration has begun.

We’re getting America underway on nuclear power in space and ushering in the era of a Nuclear NASA. With the signing of an MOU with @ENERGY, we’re taking the next giant leap toward exploring the outer solar system and sending American astronauts to Mars. Fission power will help us travel farther, operate longer, and power more capable scientific instruments.

📰 "Trump Makes $100 Million Push to Train American Scientists" @Bloomberg