#275 Jay Yu - Nano Nuclear Technology and the Future of American Energy

Jay Yu is a prominent DeepTech and NuclearTech entrepreneur with a Wall Street capital markets background. Driven by a vision to make energy more accessible, affordable, and sustainable worldwide, he currently serves as Executive Chairman & CEO of LIS Technologies Inc. (LIST) and Founder & Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE). LIS Technologies is the only U. S.-origin and patented laser uranium enrichment technology company, delivering a revolutionary, energy- and cost-efficient approach that is set to redefine nuclear fuel industry standards while also producing medical and stable isotopes; including silicon-28 critical for AI and quantum computing. NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NNE) is the first publicly listed, vertically integrated advanced nuclear micro modular reactor company in the United States. Under Jay Yu’s leadership, NNE acquired one of the highest Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and patented microreactor designs in development, achieved a market capitalization exceeding $3 billion, raised over $600 million in just a year and a half, and earned the title of Wall Street’s Cinderella story of 2024 as the #1 Top IPO Performer. Leading a world-class team of nuclear engineers, former national leaders in military and policy, U. S. Department of Energy experts, national laboratory veterans, and regulatory specialists, Jay is developing smaller, simpler, and safer advanced nuclear microreactors. He brings deep expertise in corporate structuring, capital fundraising, and recruiting top-tier talent while passionately building strategic relationships and creating lasting value for partners and stakeholders. In 2021, Jay Yu was honored as one of The Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business; the highest recognition in the U. S. AAPI community. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Check out Maui Nui for wild Axis deer venison, harvested and shipped from Maui under USDA inspection—visit https://mauinuivenison.com/srs If you’re serious about selling to the Department of War, go to https://SBIRAdvisors.com and mention Shawn Ryan for your first month free. Head to https://Superpower.com and use code SRS at checkout for $20 off your membership. Live up to your 100-Year potential. #superpowerpod Get firearm security redesigned and save 10% off @StopBoxUSA with code SRS at https://stopboxusa.com/srs #stopboxpod Jay Yu Links: X - https://x.com/nano_nuclear IG - https://www.instagram.com/nanonuclear YT - https://www.youtube.com/@nanonuclearenergy NANO Nuclear - https://nanonuclearenergy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 0:31Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch Enbev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 1:05Shawn Ryan?

  J U, welcome to the show, man.

• 1:07Speaker 03

  Thanks for having me. So blessed to be here.

• 1:10Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, so, yeah, we met at Rob Luna's event, what about, I guess that was about a month or two ago. It, um, we were doing some speaking event there and he's been telling me, Rob's a good friend of mine, he's been telling me about you for a long time, because I've been interviewing a lot of nuclear guys. He's like, you have to check this dude out. And, um, and, uh, so here you are. And, uh, I'm pumped, man, to interview you.

• 1:36Speaker 03

  Oh, very, very happy to be here. And I think my story will be different than many of your other guys. Um, not military background, but I would say a different background, but still being savvy and from the streets, I would say, is a key to kind of unlocking this different path I took, I would say.

• 1:57Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, I, I love stories like this. People that came from, you know, basically nothing, or at least close to nothing, and, uh, you know, really made something for themselves, whether that's, you know, financially, or, or through business, or military career, whatever. It's just a...

• 2:15Shawn Ryan?

  There's so many people out there victimizing themselves today that I, you know, it's it's important to me to show people that like, hey, you don't, you don't have to come from money to make money. You don't have to be a superstar athlete to be a badass. You like, you can make shit happen.

• 2:29Speaker 03

  No, I, that's, that was kind of my thesis, like, growing up too. You know, I was never, I would say sad for myself. Like, I would see some of my friends who lived in really nice neighborhoods and I would go to public school with them and and I'll literally be jealous and I'll see everything, but I was never sad like, I lived in a four-story walk-up on the last floor. And, you know, in a tenement building in New York, like, you know, when you see West Side Story, the fire escapes and stuff, that's, that's what I grew up in.

• 3:06Speaker 03

  Um, and, you know, it was a small three-bedroom apartment with, with, um, you know, four kids there and my parents, my mom was a seamstress. Uh, my dad was a carpenter. Um, he actually made French doors, which was pretty cool. Uh, but he would get up, I remember at six AM in the morning, take the train, um, uh, up to the Bronx and then he'll make these French, beautiful French doors. Uh, and then my mom would go to the sweatshop essentially. So, you know, I'm, I am a sweatshop baby. Uh, what that means is she would literally bring me with her because we couldn't afford daycare. And basically, she would throw me in this cardboard box with,

• 3:51Speaker 03

  and this is not a typical cardboard, but it's like a massive cardboard box that's probably been transported from China. And they throw all these kits in there like a playpen. So literally, we'll be thrown in there and we're all like hanging out. And, and you know, some of these kids don't even speak English probably. So I don't even remember. I just remember being thrown in there and like I'm playing with some random kids. Uh, but I think what it built in me was I recognize, I would say business too. Um, so my mom would make five cents a zipper. Uh, you know, for, for like what, what I'm wearing right now for some pants. And I remember watching her one day and she

• 4:30Speaker 03

  She was going really slow, right, with the sewing machine, like buzzing, like, you know, moving it. And then these other ladies besides her were like blasting. But I guess she was more scared. She was more, I would say, safe. And I think that is almost a foreshadowing of my future, where I wasn't safe. I was a risk taker. I'm a guy who goes all in. And she, so I asked her that question. I said, like, Mom, why are you going so slow and the others are going so fast? And they're like, oh, the others are making a lot of money. I'm not making as much money. So I was like, why don't you make more money? And this is when I'm like, three years old.

• 5:16Speaker 03

  So I recognize at an early age, like, certain things like that maybe planted a seed in me for the future. So I recognize that, I would say.

• 5:26Shawn Ryan?

  I can't wait to dig in a little bit more. Before we do, though, let me give you, everybody gets an introduction here.

• 5:32Speaker 03

  Okay, okay.

• 5:34Shawn Ryan?

  J U, founder, executive chairman and president of Nano Nuclear Energy. Executive chairman and president of List Technologies, the only U.S. origin in patented technology for laser uranium enrichment. Started your career as an analyst at Deutsche Bank on Wall Street, advocate for advanced nuclear energy and American innovation. Under your leadership, Nano Nuclear Energy reached over three billion market capitalization and value, raised over six hundred million to date, one billion of future financing structured, and became Wall Street's Cinderella story of 2024 is the number one top IPO performer.

• 6:19Shawn Ryan?

  That's fucking insane, dude. Congratulations.

• 6:22Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 6:22Shawn Ryan?

  You have a degree in psychology, and you've said, I'm not supposed to be here.

• 6:28Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 6:29Shawn Ryan?

  So, we're gonna talk about your life story, get into all things nuclear. But Polymarket posted something pretty relevant to what we're talking about here recently. So Polymarket says that there is only a 4% chance that the US grants a license for new nuclear, for a new nuclear reactor in 2025. Do you think it's possible that it happens in 2026?

• 6:57Speaker 03

  Uh, there's so many, I would say, developments happening, um, that could possibly happen. So 4%, I would say it's kinda low. I would probably push it towards 20%, but the larger reactors that are being brought back, um, there's a chance that happens where, but, but new, for, for a new company, I would say, not in the field where we're at, which is microreactors, um, but for maybe some of these larger ones out there that I'm not aware of.

• 7:33Shawn Ryan?

  So you think, you think there's a 20% chance that they'll approve it by the end of 2025 or 26?

• 7:39Speaker 03

  26, no, 25, I mean, it's

• 7:42Shawn Ryan?

  Pretty much done.

• 7:42Speaker 03

  It's, it's already, it's already done, um, but 26, there is a chance just because the current administration is being so proactive and they're advocating and even the Secretary of Energy is saying, under this administration, there will be a nuclear renaissance. So I feel like there's so much momentum in this space and, you know, seeing some new nuclear reactor being granted, whether it's an old one that's being brought back or, and given to some new player, or, um, I don't think any larger new ones will come online, but maybe an existing one that will be given to a new player potentially.

• 8:23Shawn Ryan?

  Gotcha, gotcha. Do you know how many reactors are, we have that are non, that aren't working right now? I mean,

• 8:30Speaker 03

  Uh, I don't, I don't know exactly to that, but there's currently about 94 civil nuclear reactors um, in the US and they bring more back online, I would say. So it, it might be a 95, 96 soon, but, um, that, that was the last number I, I researched.

• 8:49Shawn Ryan?

  Right on, right on. Well, a couple of things to knock out here real quick. Everybody gets a gift on the show.

• 8:55Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 8:56Shawn Ryan?

  So. You make nuclear reactors? I make gummy bears.

• 9:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, I love gummy bears.

• 9:03Shawn Ryan?

  Good deal.

• 9:04Speaker 03

  I love gummy bears.

• 9:07Shawn Ryan?

  And then I got a Patreon account. It's a subscription account and they're the reason that I get to be here with you today.

• 9:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 9:13Shawn Ryan?

  So one of the things I do is I offer them the opportunity to ask every guest a question. And this is from a former Navy nuke guy, Stephen Casey.

• 9:25Shawn Ryan?

  "I'm a former US Navy nuclear power operator of eight years. What is the realistic risk associated with large scale SMR use? We had two years of intensive training before operating a reactor. Nearly all nuclear accidents have been from a lack of training slash disregarding safety protocols, which would seem to accelerate with wide scale SMR distribution."

• 9:56Shawn Ryan?

  "Recall Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and SL1 in Idaho, a US Army reactor experiment, all of which melted down based on failure to follow proper procedures. Is this level of training for an SMR going to be sufficient to prevent an accident?"

• 10:13Speaker 03

  Uh, yes, it will be. And also, we have to look at the technologies here. The technologies for small reactors and microreactors, uh, many of them are not using liquid coolants like the big civil reactors like what Chernobyl and Fukushima. Uh, what happened there? So these reactors, the new nuclear technologies, they use, uh, fuel like TrisO, which, which we use at Nanonuclear, where it's coated with essentially tank armor. Um, and it passively cools. It could never explode. So training will be in a different type of level, I would say. Uh, but the safety profile is totally different.

• 10:54Speaker 03

  Um, for example, we're building our, our Kronos MMR on the campus of the University of Illinois. And literally across the reactor is dorm rooms, right?

• 11:05Shawn Ryan?

  So wow.

• 11:07Speaker 03

  So to answer his question, it's a totally different ballgame here, I would say, with new nuclear technologies with microreactors. This is called the Gen 4 or the, um, walk away safe reactors, I would call it.

• 11:20Shawn Ryan?

  Okay, okay. That's good. That's that's good to know. All right, Jay. So let's get into your life story. We got into it a little bit about, you know, where you grew up. I think we got to about three years old.

• 11:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, sure. Uh, so I'll take it a step back. Um, so my parents are from a farm in southern China by Hong Kong. Uh, so in the tropical weather, uh, basically I came here when I was one years old. So I, I, I don't even remember anything about China. Uh, I grew up on the Upper West Side of, of New York.

• 11:54Shawn Ryan?

  Why did they come here?

• 11:55Speaker 03

  Uh, they came here for a better life. Um, you know, China is not the China back then. Uh, I remember my dad saying to me, you know, when, when he was extremely poor, uh, he would just eat rice and salt. Like, like having chicken would be like, you know, lux- a luxury, a delicacy, right? So, um, it was, it was really bad back then, I would say. Uh, but you know, the China now, when he goes back, he's like, he wants to live there. Cause he speaks, yeah, he speaks the language over here. You know, he never really took on English. He knows enough to get by, but because New York City, you could live in a cultural bubble, right?

• 12:38Speaker 03

  So there's Chinatown, right? You just go, my, my parents literally would just go shop in Chinatown, pick up the food, see doctors there, um, do all their living, um, day to day living there, um, buying things, medicine, pharmacies, and then just bring it back to the Upper West Side. Uh, so that culture didn't have to change for them. And, and New York has that with the Latino community, um, with, with other cultures as well. Like you could live in a cultural bubble. So my parents really never learned full on English, even though they've been here like forty something years.

• 13:18Shawn Ryan?

  Wow.

• 13:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:19Shawn Ryan?

  Wow. What so he your dad would go back to China today, you think?

• 13:24Speaker 03

  Oh, he's been back. He he's he loves it there. Um, recently, though, he's he's been diagnosed with like early stage dementia. So he's kind of rehabbing here and and figuring things out. But yeah, he wants to live in China. He just he loves it. It's the it's it's in a whole new world. I mean, you go to some of these cities, they're more, um, I would say technology savvy than the US. Like, everything is at a fingertip. Um, everything, no one carries cash anymore. Um, it's happening here, obviously, because

• 13:57Shawn Ryan?

  What do you think about that? A lot of people are worried about a cashless society, you know, social credit score, all that kind of shit. That's all going on over there.

• 14:07Speaker 03

  Well, that that then you add in crypto, right? So this whole digital renaissance too is happening. And that hard asset, that cash you you you would, um, transact with with, um, you know, merchants are fading, right? Everyone taps now. China's been tapping for a while. Um, no one carries cash anymore. And, uh, he loves it out there just because certain areas, he like he's he's lived in certain villages and it's cheap, right? So he could live like a king out there where in Manhattan, it's so expensive, right? With inflation, where out there is kind of controlled, I would say.

• 14:48Shawn Ryan?

  Right on. What do you I mean, what do you think about that dad wants, wanting to go live in?

• 14:54Speaker 03

  I mean, he's he's been living, he's been traveling out there. He'll ask me for some money. He's like, hey, son, like, um, I'm having a good time out here. And you know what? When I look back at his life too, he was top of his class in high school. And then when his teachers all said, hey, what college are you going to? He said, I'm not going to college. My mom said I have to work. So he picked up a trade, which was carpentry. So he's always been a studious person. Like every single day I see him reading the paper, reading books. And I felt bad for him growing up because I know his potential would have been tremendous. He could have been a scholar, but because

• 15:39Speaker 03

  of his circumstances, he had to pick up a trade. And now that he goes back, he feels amazing. Like he could be someone, I would say. So I supported him on that because, you know, he put in the work to raise me. And I never had a close relationship with him, I think because of the cultural difference. And my, I would say Chinese is basically kindergarten level. So I could never argue with my parents. It's like, stop. Or like, I'm hungry. You know, like, I could never really get into it with them. So

• 16:18Shawn Ryan?

  Damn, that is fucking wild, man.

• 16:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I could talk about the foods I like and things, but I could never get deep, like emotionally connected with my parents. And I think that is the issue with me being Americanized. It's just, I lacked that, like, understanding of their history. And they would tell me certain things and I understood, you know, parts of it, but I never understood the whole picture, I would say.

• 16:48Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake up call at 5:55 in 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 17:20Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra because it's not just a superior like beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 17:48Speaker 03

  So are you, are you, would you consider yourself close with your parents? No, of course I'm close like with my mom and my dad, but you know, I, I just don't, I, I, because I have to operate so many companies and, and, and my time, I try to visit him like currently he's in the hospital, my dad for, for the rehabbing from dementia and, and also he hurt himself recently. So he, he is getting older, so I'm trying to visit him more, spend more time with him. And you know, he, he really enjoys my time when I see him. Um, I think he'll ask me for like money and I'm like, why? Why you're in the hospital, where are you going?

• 18:29Speaker 03

  But I think he's like giving it to the nurses to like, to like, you know, maybe he, maybe he's like, yes, scrub my balls or something. I don't know, right? Um, but, but who knows? Who knows what's happening? Uh, and I'm like, why, why you need money? And he's like, just give me money. And then I think his early dementia is kicking in. He'll say to me every time I'm going, he's like, are we going to have a barbecue tomorrow? And I'm like, yeah, like, what do you want? You want some sweet and sour pork or like, you know, like, you want some barbecue chicken? Like, so I just play along with some of the stuff he says and, and, and you know, I'm just adding to, to, to the fun. Yeah. You know, like I'm making him happy. I just, all I care about is just making the guy happy. That's cool, man.

• 19:14Speaker 03

  That's cool.

• 19:16Shawn Ryan?

  So how I mean, so how did you you grew up in the Bronx?

• 19:19Speaker 03

  No, I grew up on the Upper West Side. Yeah, he he worked. He worked in the in the Bronx. So I grew up on the Upper West Side. Uh, there's a movie out there called Little Manhattan. And it's about a kid who grows up pretty much in that one mile radius of Manhattan. That's like my life. So I grew up on Upper West Side. Um, you know, I would say a few avenues away is um Central Park. Uh, you know, it's close to a synagogue. And then I grew up with a lot of Latinos. Um, so early, early on, um, they would teach me curse words, right? So so I'll learn all these curse words and we'll be at like the park

• 20:03Speaker 03

  or um, you know, playing basketball or or even manhunt in the Museum of Natural History. That's a pretty cool situation. Stick ball on the street, right? So I grew up like that typical inner-city kid life. And but it got me in trouble like those words they taught taught me in Spanish. I would regurgitate it to other Spanish kids and they're like, and I got into many fights because I remember one time I said something about your mother is dead, all right? It translated to something like that. And the guy was like, my mom is dead. And then I was like, fuck. And and then he waited for me to jump me with like ten other kids. So literally, I grew up like that inner-city life.

• 20:46Speaker 03

  Um, and you know, I think it built a lot of character in me. Uh, but yeah, I I would never trade it now. Like, I I really enjoyed living and growing up in in Manhattan. And and a lot of people, how do you grow up in Manhattan? It's crazy. They are residential pockets of it, you know, um, like the Upper West Side where it is more residential. There's not like skyscrapers everywhere, right? Yeah.

• 21:12Shawn Ryan?

  I've always wondered what childhood would be like in Manhattan.

• 21:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 21:17Shawn Ryan?

  It's uh.

• 21:18Speaker 03

  You can't have any guns.

• 21:19Shawn Ryan?

  Every, that's why I don't live there.

• 21:21Speaker 03

  Oh yeah, there you go.

• 21:22Shawn Ryan?

  But uh, but uh, yeah, it's just like a whole nother world to me. I grew up out in the woods, so.

• 21:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 21:29Shawn Ryan?

  But um, so were you, were you into entrepreneurship business at a young age?

• 21:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think, you know, living in Manhattan, you have that socioeconomic kind of separation, right? You see, just, just moving over one block, there's million dollar homes, right? Condos, brownstones, and you move two avenues away, it's tenement buildings, walk-ups, no elevators, um, you know, and, and I call it railroad apartments where it's a long, narrow hall, and it's like, there's your kitchen, there's your bathroom, there's your first bedroom, and then it leads into another small bedroom. So the discrepancy is always there.

• 22:21Speaker 03

  Um, and this is why I think there's a new mayor, right? Uh, because he's saying, hey, I'm gonna try to fix that discrepancy with the, with the rich and the poor, and, and give more of that medium, um, sense to people where they could, they could have a better life, right? So I grew up in that type of situation where I see kids having all this, you know, like luxuries and they could eat certain things and, and I couldn't, and I would ask my parents like, why can't I do that? But I realized that, look, you know, we just didn't have it financially, right?

• 22:58Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, yeah. What, um, go down a little rabbit hole, I mean, you live in Manhattan, right?

• 23:04Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 23:05Shawn Ryan?

  What is, what is the sentiment about M'Nami, you know?

• 23:09Speaker 03

  Um, I think.

• 23:12Shawn Ryan?

  I see a lot of people excited. I also see a lot of people pissed.

• 23:15Speaker 03

  I think initially, there's that mad rush situation with anything that happens that's new. And, you know, in the New York Post, I was reading, you know, a ton of people are buying houses in Connecticut. Cause they're trying to get out now, especially the, the, the, um, the ultra high net worth. They're just trying to move out because of the increased taxes, right? If you add one, two percent, that makes a huge difference to some of these larger whales, I would, I would call them. Um, so this is frenzy of buying houses kind of in the surrounding tri-state area. Um, and getting away from that, but at the same time.

• 23:56Speaker 03

  You know, I was in that world, right? Like I was in the world where my parents didn't have much money. So I recognize why people voted for him, right? So people with, let's say where I'm at now. There, I see why also they want to run away now, um, because they think. This is me too mu- too much liberal things going on, like even the police already. Um, I mean, it's, it's been, it's been well, well known that they don't have enough power anymore. Like people aren't scared of the police, right? When I grew up, we're, we're, we're terrified. Like you're smoking a joint somewhere on the corner. You're like, oh my God, oh my God, I'm gonna die.

• 24:39Speaker 03

  And then, and then not only that, your parents, you come from immigrant parents, they're gonna whip your ass. You know, like my mom, my dad will.

• 24:47Shawn Ryan?

  Well, you were probably growing up right when Giuliani and Bernie Kerik were cleaning the city up, right?

• 24:52Speaker 03

  Yeah. Actually, I remember Giuliani when he was, um, when he was getting like advocating for votes. He was out on a subway stop. I came out and he's like handing out like vote for me.

• 25:05Shawn Ryan?

  No shit.

• 25:06Speaker 03

  I remember I was, I was, I was, I think I was in high school, like or something, but. I remember all of that, too. You know, yeah, when that all happened, you know, New York was a different place. I remember, you know, I think I think Bloomberg started that like stop and frisk thing situation. And then, you know, and then he went back when I think he ran for president recently and and he was like, oh, that was wrong of me. But is it wrong? Like, you know, does it make New York safer? You just have to think about this.

• 25:39Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, yeah. What do you think? I mean, are you excited he's in there? You got.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  I mean, I'm always indifferent about things. I mean, I I don't like the fact that there's there will be higher taxes potentially. But, you know, like I said, I've been on both sides. So, you know, I'm indifferent. I I have to see what he accomplishes. Like, I can't really rush to judgment right now.

• 26:02Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, yeah. Good way to be.

• 26:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 26:05Shawn Ryan?

  All right, well, let's keep going with your childhood.

• 26:07Speaker 03

  Sure. Yeah, so, you know, grew up on the Upper West Side, went to junior high school, Columbus Academy, which was ten blocks away. Then went to high school called High School for Environmental Studies. So maybe, once again, there's some type of foreshadowing there. Uh, and that was a mile away, right? And after graduating, I felt like, you know what? I'm just gonna work and go to school. That's what many, I would say, New Yorkers do. They go to school and work at the same, so they commute, right? They're not, they're not going away to, you know, some universities and taking out massive loans.

• 26:51Speaker 03

  Like, I'd rather stay put, work at the same time, go to a city college where it's not that expensive. There's government subsidies. Uh, so that's what I did. But I took a long route. I started at one college, Baruch. Um, wasn't ready for college, so I I left. And also, I think I just felt too poor in life. So I ended up working three part-time jobs. Um, so, three jobs. And then I realized I need that paper. I need that diploma. Um, so. I sucked it up. I actually ended up in community college.

• 27:28Shawn Ryan?

  So you weren't, you weren't like a phenomenal student or anything?

• 27:31Speaker 03

  Not book smart at all. I, I really hated school. Um, I mean, I graduated with a C minus average in psychology and the reason why I picked psychology is the easiest subject. Uh, so I, I literally wanted to just get the fuck out, literally.

• 27:48Shawn Ryan?

  A C minus average?

• 27:49Speaker 03

  C minus average. I was like, let me get the fuck, let, let me get out, right? And, um, and I graduated and I was like, that's all I need, that piece of paper. Because that's not going to determine my future. I'm going to determine my future. And during that time, I would say, this is when, I call it the matrix happened for me. And the matrix to me is being able to figure things out and getting to where you want to get to. But doing it in a different angle, I would say, like a loophole, you, you, you could call it. So, you know, I was going to school at City College in Harlem of New York and, you know,

• 28:32Speaker 03

  uh, getting my C minus degree out there. And then, um, I was working full time at Columbia University, which is a Ivy League, right? So, once again, that discrepancy there, right? So, what I realized when I was working at Columbia is value creation. So value creation to me is what can you do for that employer? Or, or that company to keep you or to keep promoting you, right? So what I did at Columbia is they had this archaic financial system there. Like multiple systems, accounts payable, receivable, et cetera.

• 29:15Speaker 03

  And I learned every single financial system, okay? And so when Columbia restructured their departments, they put a business manager in each one. And I was about 21 years old, didn't finish, uh, you know, college yet. So I didn't even have my bachelor's degree, but I created value for them because I knew all their systems and how to operate that. So when they were restructuring, I applied for that, but the requirements was a bachelor's degree with three years of experience. Didn't have that, but. I created value cuz I had, I learned all their archaic systems. So the, so they gave me a chance. They, they gave me the job.

• 29:59Speaker 03

  And my assistant actually had her master's degree. Are you serious? Yeah, so she was fucking pissed that, she was like, who's this fucking young Asian kid? Is my boss now? And, but I became the business manager of the history department. And I, I see you have a ton of history, uh, here, uh, of things, so, so I admire that. And, and because I created value. And, and then what came with that is I get to take classes for free in Ivy League. So I'm like, hold, wait, you're telling me? I could be an Ivy Leaguer? Even though I'm getting a C minus average up in City College of New York and Harlem, right?

• 30:42Speaker 03

  It's only a couple stops away, so it was, it was close by. Uh, and then at that point, you know, I, I was in charge of, I think, a dozen people in, in the, in the, um, history department. They all reported to a twenty-one-year-old kid, but because I created value and I knew all their archaic system. So, and I helped the professors with their financial reporting as well, cuz they all get these massive grants, right? And I was able to, you know, we, like, put them together, report it properly, and then also help, help with their travels and et cetera expenses, so.

• 31:21Speaker 03

  That part created value. And then the next part is, what I realized too is, at Cuny's or City Colleges in New York, you get the tier two, three jobs, right? You get different companies recruiting these students from the tier two, tier three companies. Tier one companies go to the Ivy Leagues. And there, and then I said to myself, I need to become a student.

• 31:50Speaker 03

  The only reason, so I could get into the job database. So that's what I did. And this is where the matrix happened for me. I was able to convince the dean to let me in. That I'm gonna take, this is after I graduated. I just graduated my psychology degree, C minus average. He was like, you got a C minus average. Like, I can't let you in here. And I'm like, look, I just want to take a few classes, it's not a big deal. And then I got recommendations from the professors I worked for. So they all wrote me recommendations. So the dean's like, fine. So I started becoming a student. Obviously, I'm gonna fail. Like, I didn't care, right?

• 32:34Speaker 03

  I cared about the job, the tier one jobs in there. And guess where? That job came from Deutsche Bank, which is an investment bank. At 60 Wall Street in Manhattan. So I said, okay, I'm gonna apply for all these investment banking jobs. I would literally make it to the top three of each one, but I had no experience, right? And then at Deutsche Bank, the managing director, I literally said to him, look, I'm gonna work harder than anybody out there on the trading floor. I worked full time. I went to school full time. So hard work was nothing new to me. And I'm gonna bust my ass and I'll learn everything. It's a job.

• 33:14Speaker 03

  You know, I'm gonna do it every day. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get really good at it. I'll stay last here, you know. And he basically was like, I like it. And, and, you know, I graduated later. I was probably like 24. So most people graduate, what, 21, 22? I was 24. So it's a bit older, but more life lessons, I would say. And work experience than, than just coming out of college.

• 33:41Shawn Ryan?

  When you talk about the matrix, can you be a little more specific?

• 33:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, so the matrix to me is figuring things out. But doing it in a way where it's reachable, right? Like for me to get that job on Wall Street. What happened to me is I grew up in Manhattan. So I said, where, where do you make money? Where, where's all the money coming from? Wall Street. So how do I get there? Right? You figure out the goal and reverse engineer how to get there. Exactly. Okay. You just have to figure out how to get there. But do it in a way where it's actually doable. Right? Like the way I I've done it. Um, and this is why I say I shouldn't be here. Just because I figure things out. And I had friends too.

• 34:29Speaker 03

  For example, this was a slick thing on resumes. They'll put like they were, they went to school four years, but they never graduated. But the employer thinks you you graduated. So they, but they could have gone part time for four years. Right? So they'll submit their resume and a lot of these banks at the time, I mean, maybe back then. I don't know about now, but they wouldn't even check. I think their HR departments, oh, they have four years at this college. All right, that means he has his degree. They'll let him in and they, and some of my friends would get jobs too on Wall Street. Because they put four years. No shit. Yeah, I didn't do that. I did it differently, but uh, I got my C minus average.

• 35:12Speaker 03

  So they they didn't graduate, but I did, you know? Um, so yeah, I was there from up till twenty oh nine. This is when the big bank meltdown happened and the financial crisis. I mean, I think Citibank was a dollar a share. Um, you know, the, everyone was, was losing money. Um, and it was a recession. Uh, and so I left, I I sold my bonuses and my pay pretty much vanish. Uh, so I had to reinvent myself.

• 35:45Shawn Ryan?

  How did you do that?

• 35:46Speaker 03

  So in 2009 left, I saved up some money. Uh, and essentially, you know, started investing into startups um and into uh, yeah, into startups and seeing how these startups over time were being built. And I think that's where I learned how to build the company.

• 36:09Shawn Ryan?

  What kind of startups were you interested in?

• 36:11Speaker 03

  Uh, for example, it'll be very diversified. I didn't know what I was doing, right? So I would just put small amounts of money, like 10 grand, 20 grand into certain things. Uh, but the real experience I learned from that was, you know, when you lose, you don't lose the lesson. So, you know, many startups fail. Let's let's admit that. Uh, but mainly what I realize is the eagles of the founders. Um, also the capabilities of

• 36:44Shawn Ryan?

  The eagles of the founders?

• 36:45Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 36:45Shawn Ryan?

  What do you mean by that?

• 36:47Speaker 03

  When I say that is founders, when they raise a certain amount of money, their heads get big. Um, they get their 15 minutes of fame and they think, oh, I made it. But to me, that's just the first step. You got to keep going. But many of these founders that I've invested in, they had the eagles. They didn't have eagles before, but once they got money, it changed them. And they became bad operators. They weren't genuine with what they actually say they're going to do. Right? So I, I think that that is one of the issues I've seen on how many of these startups fail is the eagles of the founders or the executives. They won't listen anymore. They don't care about their shareholders, what they say.

• 37:32Speaker 03

  Um, they're just going to do whatever they want to do. Right? And some of them even commit fraud. Some of them buy cars for themselves, do things. I mean, this is how it works, right? Like if your intentions aren't good from inception, it's never going to be good.

• 37:50Shawn Ryan?

  Mm hmm.

• 37:53Speaker 03

  What else do you look for in founders? I look for integrity, um, their story too is important about their life, I would say. Uh, you know, and i- it's not even about track record, it's more about their integrity and what they've gone through, like, like myself, right? Um, and who surrounds them too, like talking to some of their other executives. Um, if they're like buddy buddies and, you know, they don't really care how you feel in the future, like you could sense these things. And this is where I, I guess I have a good knack for that. I have a good knack with

• 38:36Speaker 03

  meeting someone in the first five minutes, I could tell who they are. I mean, I could tell from their voice. You know, when you meet people and you, you've sensed like they're fake, right? I could sense that and I lose interest really fast with people like that. Um, but you could sense these things, you could ask certain questions. And, you know, you, you've been part of some agencies that interrogate things, right? So

• 39:04Speaker 03

  these subtle type of things like, oh, oh, you said that you raised a hundred grand, uh, and you put 50, but now I, but I realized you didn't put that money in. So, you know, these little clues, like you, you, you'll, you'll just talk to them over dinner or a drink. And they'll, they'll, they won't connect, right? These certain little lines they say to you in the beginning, it won't connect the second or third time you meet them. Gotcha. Um, so founders is integrity, egos, right? You gotta stay humble, even if you raise a lot of money or do things. And I think that's why I've been successful is because

• 39:48Speaker 03

  I say what I'm gonna do and also I'm a genuine person. I'm, I'm probably a guy where if we do a handshake deal, I'll honor that deal, right? Like that, there's very few people, I think in this world that would do that these days. Like everyone cares about themselves. Yeah. And I care more about the longer term than the short term. It's like a long play. Yes, I'm in it for the long haul. Nice. And this is where also. You know, transitioning into Nano, we could, we could talk about that if, if you want.

• 40:20Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, absolutely. I talk about that. I mean, the number one IPO in twenty twenty four. Yes.

• 40:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, and I'll tell you a little bit about that too. So, you know, let's, I don't blame a lot of the people who bet against Nano. Uh, because if you look at it from their perspective, you have this big Asian guy from New York City, public school kid. Never took a company public, like from inception and out of nowhere, he's building nuclear reactors? Impossible. So, you know, what happened is a ton of hedge funds bet against us. Uh, and they said, no way this is happening. And, but they don't understand my history. They don't understand I came from nothing.

• 41:08Speaker 03

  So I have nothing to lose, right? Like I have something to prove. I have a legacy to build. My CEO, who I recruited, uh, he went to the top boarding school in the UK. He was poor. How did he get there? He wrote his own essay to get it. His IQ was off the charts. He's a nuclear physicist, engineer, worked in nuclear subs. Uh, Minister of Defense, uh, worked at Rolls Royce. So he has everything. But they bet against us because they're like, this is not possible. These guys are gonna do this. But they don't understand that we worked till four AM in the morning while they're, they're all asleep.

• 41:49Speaker 03

  I would say we're, we're, we're grinding. We're, we're, we're, we're cut from the same cloth. We're gonna battle. We're, we're warriors, right? Um, and they underestimated Nano and I think what happened is they bet against us and, you know, our stock ran and I, I think, uh, we were up like six, seven hundred percent. We were the number one IPO performer in America and we shocked the world and, and not only that, like all these institutional guys, money, banks, they started looking at us different. They're like, wait.

• 42:28Speaker 03

  The people joining them and the things they're doing. There's something here because why would these former US national leaders be joining Jay and James, right? And how's this possible? Like, how are these generals joining the, um, these guys? Like, who are they? It's, it's because when I meet them, I could do a handshake and I honor my word. And I've delivered. So that, that is the kind of what I'm built about. And even my CEO, when I recruited him, he was, he told me I was crazy. Uh, he said, you know, I changed countries and industries and you, you're bringing me back into nuclear?

• 43:12Speaker 03

  He's like, there's no money in nuclear. And I said, no, I think, you know, there's a certain area in nuclear, microreactors, which is categorized as 20 megawatts or less. There's no commercial microreactor in the world. So if we able to jump in, we could make some noise there. Uh, and you know what I realized about nuclear physicists and engineers is they're almost like doctors where if there's a dying person in front of them, they're gonna help them. But their curiosity of building something is what drives them. So he naturally said, okay, I'll, I'll, I'll take this leap of faith with you.

• 43:55Speaker 03

  And ever since then, he's like, thank you. You know, like you changed my life, um, and you were right. I, I didn't see something that, that, that you saw. Uh, but what I saw at the time is I saw solar and wind. Um, especially many stocks, they were tapering off. They were already really high. Government subsidies have boosted them. Um, and you know, all these countries that were talking about net zero goals. By 2035, 2040, how are you gonna get there without nuclear? That was my thesis. I was like, how, I don't get how all these countries are gonna reach these net zero

• 44:38Speaker 03

  goals and this, and decarbonize their countries without nuclear. Um, and then this is where kind of the aha moment, when, when I brought in my number two, we said, this is where we're gonna focus on. Um, and then I could tell you what happened next.

• 44:56Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake-up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 45:28Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 45:57Shawn Ryan?

  Do you feel it? That something's off?

• 45:59Speaker 04

  This is propaganda as a weapon.

• 46:02Speaker 05

  The revolutionary audio docu-series.

• 46:05Speaker 04

  It's essential for the experiment that you continue.

• 46:07Speaker 05

  Hosted by Sean Ryan. They're called PsyOps. Is now available to you for free.

• 46:13Speaker 06

  There's no question that it is mind control.

• 46:17Speaker 05

  Hear from whistleblowers.

• 46:18Speaker 06

  Why have I got a letter from the CIA?

• 46:20Speaker 05

  Shocking insights from experts.

• 46:22Shawn Ryan?

  If you've ever wondered who's really pulling the strings, it's time to find out.

• 46:30Speaker 05

  Target Intelligence. PsyOp, an Ironclad original. Hosted by Sean Ryan. Listen today wherever you get your podcasts or watch the enhanced version on YouTube at This is Ironclad.

• 46:49Shawn Ryan?

  Real quick, before we go into what happened next, I'm just, I mean, so you must have made a substantial amount of money through your, I mean, were you with a VC firm or were you private?

• 47:02Speaker 03

  No, I was just by myself. Yeah, I mean, I was able to, what I was really good at is picking trends in the future. So, one trend I was very heavily involved was cannabis, the rise of cannabis, right? In New York City, every corner has like a cannabis store now, but back then, everything's illegal. So, what happened here was, in Canada, there was a tremendous amount of companies that were going public up in Canada. And I invested in many of those companies that were, you know, pre-IPO or private companies. So, I

• 47:42Speaker 03

  had that knack, I would say, of predicting that as well. And then, and then in the meantime, I was investing into other companies, biotechs, but once again, many of them failed. But the ones that I picked, like the sector-focused ones, there were, many of them would succeed. Not all of them, but many of them would succeed. And then, for example, gold, when gold was 900 an ounce, I actually liked the price of gold at that time. Now, we reached over 4,000 an ounce. But I remember I was in London, and I was with a hedge fund buddy of mine,

• 48:21Speaker 03

  and we were in the richest area of London, which is called Mayfair. And I was like, I really like it, but I'm tired of writing a check to these companies and not knowing, and then the executives can't execute and operate. So, I was able to convince him to put a, structure a deal together. He was able to find an asset up in Canada. We raised company, raised money and took it public. And it was called Mayfair Gold. So I I think right now it's still worth, you know, three hundred something million. We've raised over a hundred something million. Oh shit.

• 49:04Speaker 03

  Um, and, you know, there's been a tremendous amount of interest now in in that.

• 49:13Speaker 03

  You know, so I've always had a knack for picking, I would say, sectors, but when I turned forty, and this whole nuclear thing, like I had this feeling about nuclear. Uh, I said, you know what? I'm tired of writing checks to people. I'm gonna invest in myself. And and when I used to go with some of these company executives to, um, they call it non-deal roadshows or deal roadshows, meaning they're raising capital or they're marketing their company. I was never impressed by these guys. I would go and they and they'll raise all this money and I'm like, that's it? Like, this is what I'm up against?

• 49:55Speaker 03

  And I said, I'm gonna build, I think I could build the company better than these guys. And, you know, my thesis was right, but it takes a a lot of work. It takes a lot of human capital connection. Um, like, for instance, let's go back to Nano. You know, I looked up who which universities in the world are top in nuclear engineering. And I flew to UC Berkeley. And I met with the chair of the department

• 50:32Speaker 03

  at his favorite cafe on campus. And I said, you know, I want to build a microreactor. Um, and I'll pay you for it. Um, but, you know, you just have to believe in in me and join me. And I was able to sell him on this idea. And because he's so, like I said, nuclear engineers are so inquisitive, they're like, okay.

• 50:59Speaker 03

  We'll see, we'll see what you could do, right? So I was able to bring the chair of that department on. Then I said, okay, with my capital markets background, I said, you know, you see a lot of these biotech companies, they have one drug. And if they don't make it to the FDA approval, it tanks the whole company. So I wanted to diversify or hedge myself. So I went to Cambridge in the UK and I met the chair of that department. And I said, hey, I want to build a micro reactor. I want to hire you two different designs, which will be hedged in case something happens. One or the other doesn't succeed, right? So, so we put world-class technical teams together.

• 51:45Speaker 03

  And then I was able to raise the seed capital from the former C-level executives of UPS, the largest transportation company in the world. And I said, look, we want to make nuclear scalable, transportable. And they said, we know transport, but they knew nothing about nuclear. So what, what they did is they went to Morgan Stanley and they talked to their energy desks. And they said to Morgan, tell us everything about nuclear, small nuclear. What, what do you like about it? And they basically helped us. They, they said, you know, we're bullish on nuclear. We see great things for it coming. And small nuclear is, is rising.

• 52:30Speaker 03

  There's, there's a lot of buzz about it. So I was able to now get my seed money to pay these, these world-class technical guys to, to start designing and structuring and developing the micro reactor designs, right? So that's how I was able to get these world-class people. But once again, it took a lot of my, I would say, human capital convincing.

• 52:59Speaker 03

  And I think these days, what I did, people are copying now too. So I see a lot of now new nanos popping up all over the place. Like every single week, there's like a new nano, right? So were you the first one in the space? We were the first one to be publicly listed. Okay. So microreactors have been around for decades.

• 53:23Speaker 03

  But We're looking to commercialize it, right? Like, remember, there's no commercialized microreactor in the world. So that was a new frontier. And so we were the first publicly, uh, company to be listed uh, um, as a vertically integrated microreactor.

• 53:40Shawn Ryan?

  Okay, okay. What, I mean, what? So we, we kind of, you know, you talked about net zero and, and, and renewables and green energy and all that kind of stuff, but what, what, what got your interest specifically in microreactors?

• 53:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, so number one for the business side was there was no commercial microreactor. Number two was there's a lot of historic data around different uh, types of microreactors. And then three, uh, my CEO had a lot of connections also with his previous like nuclear, um, kind of networks about that. So we decided to focus on that because the use cases are way different than civil nuclear reactors, right? If you're able to transport and scale nuclear, think about uh, island communities, right?

• 54:38Speaker 03

  Um, northern communities in Canada that, that run on diesel, right? So essentially replacing diesel generators, right? With consistent base load energy. Think of, um, natural disaster release, being able to bring it in. Um, think about military deployment, right? If you think about what's happening these days, especially in Russia and the Ukraine, it's a new frontier. You have drones fighting and how are drones powered, right? So energy is the X factor these days, right? And then you see Russia right now hitting all the energy systems in Ukraine, right?

• 55:23Speaker 03

  If you're able to bring a transportable microreactor.

• 55:27Speaker 03

  Right? You have energy in different locations. Um, so this helps democratize energy across the world, but also it helps lift humanity. So if you think about Africa, Africa was a use case for us. The whole continent has no national grid, right? So you have a lot of these remote communities, right? But if you think about uplifting humanity there, there's certain areas that have no hospitals. Um, you know, you could bring in a microreactor and now you have desalination. You, you could build hospitals. You could, there's so much you could do.

• 56:06Shawn Ryan?

  Water.

• 56:06Speaker 03

  Water, right? So all of this is a X factor. And this was the thesis too, besides the net zero goals of all these countries, is lifting up humanity, um, being able to bring energy to the front lines of different situations. Like right now, the army is, is, has a massive program. They're launching a whole microreactor program funding that, right? So the world is changing. Um, military is changing. Nano, uh, this year also won a direct to face two

• 56:44Speaker 03

  award with the closest joint military base in DC, right? And they, they want to be able to have energy off grid. So in case something happens. So they're looking at our, we call it Kronos MMR, which is micro modular reactor. And we're doing a feasibility study there now, which we won that award. And we're looking at certain areas on the base where we could install that for them, right? And, and, you know, they're very excited about this. We're very excited about this, but that is going to be a use case for us for the military aspect as well.

• 57:24Shawn Ryan?

  Wow. I mean, did the, did the AI race or any of that, you know, kind of stuff?

• 57:31Speaker 03

  Oh yeah. No, I mean.

• 57:33Shawn Ryan?

  Put an impact into your decision as well?

• 57:35Speaker 03

  Yes. Um, I mean, we didn't know this was all gonna transpire like this, uh, with AI data centers and all the big tech companies pouring in.

• 57:44Shawn Ryan?

  You didn't know this back then?

• 57:45Speaker 03

  I mean.

• 57:46Shawn Ryan?

  So this is holy shit.

• 57:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, we, this, this was just, yeah, this was just a perfect storm. This is a rare situation where.

• 57:55Speaker 03

  You know, you have government backing everything. You have the giant tech companies pouring in because of AI and data centers. And then you have now also a new generation of technology that's come on that's walk away safe, that can never explode. So i- it's just this marriage of of this opportunity and time, right? It's just a rare situation. And once again, this is where the matrix happens. And I believe there's a higher power pushing Nano too. And what I mean by that is there's certain things that it's almost like no coincidence

• 58:39Speaker 03

  that happens while I was building Nano. For instance, my last name is Yu. And, you know, I I built Nano on my in my last office on the thirty eighth floor. If you put that together, Yu three eight, or as commonly known as Yu three oh eight, which is uranium. Okay, which is, you know, the the the fuel for for these reactors, right?

• 59:08Speaker 03

  And then, and then when we go public, our stock, you know, we did a IPO at four dollars a share. Our stock goes from four to thirty eight dollars. So this thirty eight number has been following me. And then, and if you know Chinese culture, we like eights, right? Eights, eights, right? And so thirty eight's been following me. And then Nano was able to acquire out of bankruptcy a leading microreactor technology that went bankrupt. It didn't go bankrupt because of the technology. It went bankrupt because the biggest funder passed away. And he was a he was a former CIA guy.

• 59:52Speaker 03

  His name is Richard Helms, I believe. And I don't know where he got the money, but he funded, he funded that company like a hundred thirty something million dollars. And he passed away and his family. I I believe they didn't care about nuclear. So um so it was an opportunity for us now. We came in, bought that technology, and it leapfrogged now now to becoming one of the leaders, if not the leader in microreactor technology in the world. Um, and it came with, guess what? Thirty-eight issued and pending patents. Are you serious? This is, this is what I'm saying.

• 1:00:34Speaker 03

  There's just been so many crazy things that happened that is unbelievable. And now, so when people attack us early on and we were the number one IPO performer, I just put my head down and worked because I know it's gonna work out itself for some reason. Like, it's so crazy. Um, there's just been so many things that it's just unbelievable. Let me add, um, that movie Oppenheimer, you know, that came out. I think it won a ton of awards. I don't know if you watched this, but this is another goosebump moment for me. I was watching it.

• 1:01:15Speaker 03

  And Oppenheimer, you know, he, he, he, he helped build the first atomic bomb, right? Where did he recruit his scientists from? UC Berkeley and Cambridge. It gave me goosebumps. I was like, get the fuck out of here. Like, Oppenheimer did this? I didn't even know, I, I knew nothing about, I don't even read about Oppenheimer, like, I just did things myself, right? So, so these are the little things that are like so freaky. I'm just like, it's, it's almost unbelievable. And then what's unbelievable is, you know, within a year and a half, we raised,

• 1:01:57Speaker 03

  since inception, over six hundred million dollars. I mean, we go from an unnamed group of guys and company, like, they're not real, they're not doing this, to now being one of the leaders. And now having the money to make this happen. It's not about if we're building it, it's about when now, right? So. We shocked the world and and many of these nuclear guys are now looking at us different because they're like, wow, Nano's a real player now.

• 1:02:30Speaker 03

  And not only that, like, once again, we recruited world-class technical teams, but also former US national leaders, like, our chair of our advisory board is Rick Perry, right? Former Secretary of of um, Energy and the under the last Trump administration. And then I hired the former CFO of the Department of Energy. And then I brought in a four-star general, Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces, right? And then I brought in General Terry Rubling. He was head of the Marines in the Asian Pacific and apparently he is the real-life Top Gun, not Tom Cruise.

• 1:03:11Speaker 03

  Okay, so, um, you know, we brought so many high-level people to to the table and everyone's just like in in awe and and they're shocked. Um, because we came in and I felt confident guiding the company, um, post-IPO, uh, because we have that grit, we just have that warrior spirit. And and I think it's from the history and the upbringing I had. I mean, it's just an all-in type of mentality, right? I grew up with nothing, like, like, what are you, what are you doing against this? It means nothing to me. I'm just gonna put my head down and build, right?

• 1:03:50Shawn Ryan?

  Damn.

• 1:03:53Shawn Ryan?

  That is fucking impressive, man. Congratulations.

• 1:03:56Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:03:57Shawn Ryan?

  Wow. Are you guys talking about sending some of these mini reactors up to space, too?

• 1:04:04Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah. I mean, that's part of, you know, the the whole type of new frontier, right? Um, you know, I I think, I think with with SpaceX and with all these, you know, rocket companies, um, going into space and raising tons of billions of dollars as well, one of the issues is energy, right? Like, if you're able to Bring a scalable nuclear reactor and a transportable one to, let's say, the moon, right? And that's one of the mandates, too. I, um, I, I think under this administration, they announced recently, they want to put a reactor on the moon. They want to be the first country to do that.

• 1:04:47Speaker 03

  I mean, you're, you're, you're going against Russia and China, right? So, um, they're trying to, they announced they want to focus on that. And our reactor design is perfectly for that. We have a design, um, we call it Loki, um, that could go up there and, and, and, and, and be on the moon. How many different reactors do you have? So we have a portfolio of reactors. Um, I call it, I would say, large, medium, and small, but the large still being small. Okay? So our large one is called Kronos. Uh, it's a 15-megawatt electric output and 45-megawatt thermal. And then we have Loki. What does that mean?

• 1:05:29Speaker 03

  That means it could power 15-megawatt electric. I would say it could power maybe 15,000 homes. Okay. Right? Sure. And then Loki is between one to five megawatts. And then we have our Zeus reactor, which was developed by the University of Illinois professors that I recruited. And that design is, to me, is probably the most simplest design in the world. Um, and that is going to be under one megawatt. So that, that is used for, the military is really, really interested in that because

• 1:06:10Speaker 03

  that could be deployed in the front line to power the drones, um, to move the camps, the military bases, right? Um, so. So yeah, we have a portfolio and they're all, I would say, called high gas temperature reactors. And so, so we keep the same type of designs and we kind of flow it down. And what that means is we also use that Trisil fuel. So Trisil fuel, actually, the government poured billions of dollars into R and D into it. So many of these companies now, they are developing microreactors or SMRs or small modular reactors.

• 1:06:50Speaker 03

  They're all using that type of same combination, like high gas temperature reactor with Trisil. Because it makes the most sense and, and it seems like many of these other larger companies are also doing that as well. And, and remember, Trisil, it's coated with pretty much tank armor. It, it, it can never explode. It just passively cools, right? If anything happens, there's like an auto shutdown.

• 1:07:19Speaker 03

  You shoot a rocket at it, the fuel doesn't explode. Again, it could, it could, it could crack, but they never chemically kind of interact with each other. And, and that's why we call it walk away safe. So we, when we acquired the technology from bankruptcy, it came with two demonstration sites. One partnered with the University of Illinois. We reestablished that and recently, we also broke ground there. We had a ceremony with the university and they're very happy that, you know, we're bringing this project back to life. So we broke ground and we're planning to submit a construction application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

• 1:08:04Speaker 03

  in Q1 of 2026. Wow. Yeah, so what that means is hopefully within a year, a year and a half, we'll be able to pour concrete and steel and start building the reactor. And the reactor is buried on campus. And like I said, right across the street from the reactor is dorm rooms. So this is why we call it walk away. And you'd think that university would allow that situation to happen if they didn't know from their experts that this is actually safe. Yeah. Right? So this is a whole new world, a whole new nuclear technology. And people have to kind of, you know, rewire their minds about nuclear now. I mean, what do you think, what do you think that?

• 1:08:50Shawn Ryan?

  Unleashing nuclear, what's gonna happen? What are we gonna hit a golden age? Because everybody I've talked, you're not the only nuclear guy I've talked to, everybody's gung ho about it.

• 1:09:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:09:01Shawn Ryan?

  And, you know, in, in, in, everybody's super gung ho about, it seems like, uh, this administration's getting rid of the, a lot of the red tape that it has been holding progress in this sector back for, for a long fucking time.

• 1:09:16Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:09:16Shawn Ryan?

  You know, so what, I mean, I get, first question, I mean, do you, are you, obviously, obviously you wouldn't be in it if you didn't think the red tape was disappearing. So what, I mean, what is this unleash? What, what is, what is, what is gonna change in everyday Americans' lives?

• 1:09:37Speaker 03

  I think you have to look at the whole kind of supply chain of things, right? You have now AI and data centers being built.

• 1:09:48Shawn Ryan?

  Hmm.

• 1:09:49Speaker 03

  That's gonna take years, you know, there's not gonna be built overnight. And these are massive infrastructures, right? Like, Amazon's pouring tens of billions of dollars into this. Meta, um, Google, um, you know, Oracle, like, a lot of these players are looking at nuclear as an option. And Nvidia with Jensen Huang, he recently said also that a lot of these small reactors are gonna come online with these data centers, right? So, let's look at that whole kind of cycle. You have, energy is the X factor, right?

• 1:10:28Speaker 03

  It is the bottleneck right now. So, with, with these small reactors, you're able to now create all this data centers and AI, um, or be a part of the situation, right? But you're able to do that. How is it gonna impact? How's AI, we hearing it every day, how's AI gonna impact our lives? So, you need the energy to create the AI, right, in order to deliver it and change our lives. So you have this kind of whole cycle here, but once again, the X factor is energy. So if you're able to create a scalable, factory fabricated situation where you can mass produce nuclear,

• 1:11:12Speaker 03

  you have that baseload energy, it's carbon free.

• 1:11:17Speaker 03

  And then you could deploy it off grid, right? So you don't have that burden on the grid anymore.

• 1:11:23Shawn Ryan?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:11:23Speaker 03

  Right? You could, you want to build a data center? Bring it anywhere. I recently came back from speaking at the largest, largest energy conference in, uh, in the UAE in Abu Dhabi. I was approached by a company wanting to build data centers in the desert. How are you going to do that? Only way to do that is with nuclear, right? So that is how crazy, um, things are, are, are moving. And the world is catching on to this, right? You have now the Middle East very interested in this, uh, because they know oil is finite, right?

• 1:12:04Speaker 03

  Um, if, if they want to, let's say they want their hands around energy in the future. You're going to have to invest in nuclear.

• 1:12:11Shawn Ryan?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:12:11Speaker 03

  So there, there is a lot of interest from, um, the Middle East right now with small reactors. Uh, the UAE just built, um, I believe five of them. So nuclear reactors, right? So they're all coming online too, and they're all kind of changing their mindset. Like, we can't just focus on oil anymore.

• 1:12:33Shawn Ryan?

  Wow, the Middle East is.

• 1:12:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:12:34Shawn Ryan?

  Is, wow.

• 1:12:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:12:36Shawn Ryan?

  I mean, what, what about, I mean, that, so I, I know, you know, in abundance of energy will jet launch artificial intelligence, but what about production costs, transportation costs, you know? Uh, we were talking about, you know, space, all that kind of shit. I mean, what, what is a numbers guy, Wall Street guy? You know, I mean, you'd, you'd have a lot more insight than I would have, but I would, I would, I mean, if un-nuclear is truly unleashed and we have an overabundance of energy, I mean, I would, I, it is my understanding that would throw us into some type of a golden age.

• 1:13:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I, great, great point there. I think this is why microreactors are very important because let, let's say with our Kronos MMR.

• 1:13:25Speaker 03

  Every piece of it is modularized. So we could produce this in a factory, right? And it adheres through road weight limits, right? Every piece of it. And the biggest part is vessels in nuclear reactors. That's the largest piece. We're able to design this and mass produce this in a factory. Kind of like the gigawatt factory with Tesla, right? Like, that is the mindset you need in order to get that golden age of nuclear. Because some of these other small reactors are still really big, right? Where you can't just mass produce every single piece.

• 1:14:09Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, true.

• 1:14:10Speaker 03

  But with a micro reactor, you're able to do that. And you're able to transport it. And with our Kronos, it's buried. So the surface of it will be a certain finite amount. And then on the bottom, we're able to connect the reactors. Almost like Lego blocks, right? Boom, boom, 15 megawatt. So we can actually scale to 1 gigawatt if we wanted to. And right now, there's a tremendous amount of interest from AI data centers and large infrastructure companies to partner with us to co-locate some of that with our design, right?

• 1:14:54Speaker 03

  And also, the resilient part of it is if one reactor dies and you have multiple, those keep going. So you never lose energy.

• 1:15:04Shawn Ryan?

  Wow.

• 1:15:05Speaker 03

  Right? So this is blowing people's minds because now, and this is also great for the military as well, right? If you get hit by a missile or something and it takes out one of our reactors, but you have multiple, the other ones are running still. So you're never going to lose energy, right? So and this is what you need with a lot of these data centers because you can't have any downtime like that, right? So a lot of them are looking to co-locate. And this is why, you know, you have the big tech companies investing now. I'm partnering with a lot of these companies, right?

• 1:15:39Shawn Ryan?

  Interesting. Interesting. Well, Jay, let's take a quick break.

• 1:15:43Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 1:15:43Shawn Ryan?

  And, uh, we'll pick up right where we left off.

• 1:15:49Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 1:16:20Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 1:16:52Shawn Ryan?

  All right, Jay, we're back from the break. I want to get into what you're doing now with LIS Technologies. So it looks like you're doing some type of laser enrichment with uranium, which I know nothing about. So what sparked this one?

• 1:17:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I think why I'm almost drooling at this is because, you know, once again, I kind of saw this, you know, in the past. But, okay, everyone right now is building these glorious reactors. So to me, everyone has a Ferrari. They have no gas for the Ferrari. And this is where LIS kind of comes in here. LIS actually stands for Laser Isotope Separation Technologies. That's why we named it LIS Technologies. And in the very beginning, I wanted this technology in nano. But because it poses a proliferation and national security risk,

• 1:17:52Speaker 03

  we have to separate the companies. But in reality, we just wanted the company in nano.

• 1:17:59Speaker 03

  Every management figure in LIS has to get a Q clearance, for example. And the reasoning for this is...

• 1:18:10Speaker 03

  When you're, we're dealing with enrichment. And what is enrichment? Okay, so I'll take you through kind of the psycho of the fuel. So you take uranium ore or yellow cake, um, which you mine. And you have to convert it into U F six, which is the gas. And then this is where enrichment comes in. The world currently uses centrifuges. And this is why Putin, he controls about, I believe, forty percent of the world's enrichment. So that means he has a ton of centrifuges. The U S, you know, because the, the nuclear infrastructure here essentially has been atrophied.

• 1:18:49Speaker 03

  And we were the, the largest exporter of nuclear services and fuels back then. We're the now the biggest importer, right? Because the U S didn't invest into this in so many decades. So now with the nuclear renaissance happening, you have to build back the actual infrastructure to support these reactors, right? And we don't have that yet. We're, we're building there, but we don't have that yet. So when I was looking at building nano, I said, okay, one of the issues is going to be fuel and the enrichment side. So centrifuges is the second generation of enrichment. The first generation is gas diffusion.

• 1:19:32Speaker 03

  Um, the second is centrifuges. And the third, or the holy grail, I call it, is laser uranium enrichment. Okay. And what that means is you're able to take a laser and excite to the isotope level to, for enrichment, right? So for us, let's break this down. Civil nuclear reactors, you need, they use five percent fuel, up to five percent enrichment of the fuel of it, okay?

• 1:20:06Speaker 03

  Small nano reactors go up to 10% and SMRs also with other microactive go up to 20%. And that's called HALU, H A L E U, high assay low enriched uranium. That's up to 20%. LEU is up to 5% low enriched uranium. And then when you go beyond that is weapons grade and is then considered HEU or high enriched uranium, which is used for, guess what? Submarines, aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs, right? Interesting. So this is why we have to move list out. It's because it poses a national security risk because technically we could keep going to that 99%. We're not looking to do that.

• 1:20:51Speaker 03

  We're looking for only civil use of this, meaning the LEU and the HALU percent up to 20%. So essentially in a single stage of the laser process, we could enrich to 5%. In two stages, up to 10% of HALU and then we could keep going, right? So the, what happened recently is Israel and the US bombed Iran, remember? What were they doing? Enriching because the US and Israel's scared they're going to enrich past the 20% and they're going to keep going. Right? So this is the same type of security profile list is going to have.

• 1:21:35Speaker 03

  You know, what I did with this is early on I engaged all the regulatory bodies in the USA and said, look, it's me, J U from Nano. I'm not some other guy who didn't grow up in New York City. It's just me. I want to build this company and I'm willing to hand you the keys to the laser room or whatever we're doing. We just want to build the technology. And I truly believe. We'll be able to do this in a way where we could scale it commercially because that's been kind of the issue in the world is it could work in a lab, but the scalability of these lasers and for this enrichment, no one's really done before. So um, the history of

• 1:22:19Speaker 03

  this is also kind of crazy. It could be made into a movie. So this, the origin of this is Dr. Jeff Erkins. He's ninety four years old now. He actually drives a car still and I told him, don't drive, just stick it in Uber, but he doesn't even know how to use it, get Uber, you know? So he's ninety four and he has some freaky genetics and DNA, but his story dates back to World War Two. He's Dutch, but he was put in a to a concentration camp in Indonesia. And between ten to twelve years old, he had to serve hard labor, like he thought he was

• 1:22:59Speaker 03

  gonna die. What happened next is the bomb dropped and it ended the war. And what it did to that little kid is he dedicated himself to learning everything about the atom. So then guess where he went? UC Berkeley to get his PhD. So it's almost a full circle again. Um, UC Berkeley. And now think of Back to the Future, you know, the mad scientist in his garage building the car, right? Uh, that's what Jeff Erkins did. He built a whole test loop of the laser in his garage. And the craziest thing is the US government didn't

• 1:23:41Speaker 03

  stop him. So he was technically enriching small amounts of this in his garage. And there will be other nuclear experts that I've encountered that went to his garage and said, I couldn't believe the government's allowing him to do this, but also the damn thing worked. So what happened next is there was a big um, um, company up in Canada. It's called Chemical. They publicly listed as well. Um, I think they're like thirty, forty billion dollar company. They actually funded his technology um up in Canada. And this was the late eighties and early nineties.

• 1:24:25Speaker 03

  And then what happened next is for them to fund the next phase of this was gonna cost a lot of money. And then Russia, the iron curtain fell. They had to support their economy by selling cheap enriched uranium to the world. So they decided not to continue with advancing his laser technology. So he took his lasers, all his paperwork and put it in storage in UC Irvine, California. We took it out of storage. Uh, and LIS was created. It is the only US origin in pen to technology. So this is a made in America technology. And to me, it's a critical technology.

• 1:25:09Speaker 03

  It's the critical technology. Because once again, it could provide the enrichment technology for the whole fuel cycle, which is needed um drastically here in in in the US. So you you know, that's one of the bottlenecks, which is the fuel sign. So this is why LIS with Nano is vertically integrated. And this separates us from all the other um reactor companies. And so having our own fuel at a cheaper cost than anyone else separates us, right? Um, but also it can potentially, like I said, help, you know,

• 1:25:52Speaker 03

  help create fuel for aircraft carriers, submarines. We're not looking to do that, but if the government one day wants to buy us out or invest into that or or we make an exception, then that could happen, right? So if you're able to now make it cheaper, the enrichment than any other sensor fused technology in the world, or make it essentially obsolete, then Russia's gonna have a problem with the US. China is building more reactors right now than the whole world put together. Are you serious? So this is why national security.

• 1:26:31Speaker 03

  Energy is national security.

• 1:26:33Shawn Ryan?

  China's building more reactors.

• 1:26:35Speaker 03

  Than the whole world put together. And this is why the US and I, I believe the Trump administration is, is huh?

• 1:26:45Shawn Ryan?

  How long have they been doing that?

• 1:26:46Speaker 03

  Uh, I would say this happened probably the last um, decade. I would say the last, they've been turning the corner because of the rise in technology and, and the digital side in China. They're now focused on energy. They see that as a battle. And remember, the other issue recently was the critical minerals, right? Uh, I, I believe the administration got really mad because China was restricting some of the exports of the critical minerals to the US. So now the US is investing directly into these companies. Right? Cause those critical minerals are used for armor, for military use. So

• 1:27:32Speaker 03

  once again, it poses a national security risk if we don't have critical minerals and critical technologies like LIS to actually events.

• 1:27:43Shawn Ryan?

  Do you have any idea how far behind we are from?

• 1:27:46Speaker 03

  Um, well, from China, I mean, this is why there's a big push for small reactors and companies like Nano to help mass produce this in the future, right? Um, they are, the current administration is also bringing back online a lot of these older reactors and kind of modernizing them as well. They're, they're pouring billions of dollars into larger projects as well. So how much is still not going to be enough? So we need to continue to pour more um, funding and, and, and also remove the bureaucracy, right? And that's another area where the executive orders recently

• 1:28:30Speaker 03

  help push that, right? It reduces timelines of the regulatory aspects, right? So we are moving in the right direction. There's a tremendous amount of momentum, but China's unleashing their energy through nuclear and we need to follow.

• 1:28:47Speaker 03

  Shit. Are you hopeful? You gotta be hopeful. Yeah, I'm very hopeful. I mean, this is why, you know, with Liss and Nano, we're very much a part of the build back of the US infrastructure in nuclear and the capabilities of the new technologies in the future. So this is why we're working with military here in the US because we see this as an issue in the future, right? Having energy, security, sovereignty is a big issue in the US, and we need to be a part of that.

• 1:29:24Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 1:29:55Speaker 07

  When you've got a job to do, Lowe's knows how to help you keep it moving. My Lowe's Pro Rewards members save more with member volume discounts on eligible orders through a quote of $2,000 or more. Plus, save time with job site delivery on select purchases. Not a member? Join for free today. Exclusions, more terms and restrictions apply. Can't be combined with any other discount, including but not limited to contract and/or special pricing. Loyalty program subject to terms and conditions. Details at Lowe's.com/TERMS. Subject to change.

• 1:30:24Speaker 03

  If you're doing this, Liss is going to be headquartered right out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, correct? Yes. We're actually bringing back those lasers and modernizing them and then also developing our new next generation of lasers to do the enrichment. So we made Oak Ridge, Tennessee, our home, which is also, if you think about it, this is where the first fuel came for the Manhattan Project, which is the first atomic bomb that dropped. So it's almost full circle. Yeah. So if you think about Jeff Erkins, he's also considered the founding father of laser enrichment. If you think about his life, he almost died in that concentration camp.

• 1:31:06Speaker 03

  The field created to save his life was in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

• 1:31:10Shawn Ryan?

  Man, that is wild, man.

• 1:31:11Speaker 03

  So now it's that full circle of his life. He's now bringing back his lasers here to demonstrate that, to create the feel that's needed for us, right?

• 1:31:24Speaker 03

  So once again, it's a freaky story. Also, Liss, our whole executive management team is from ASML. ASML also creates these lasers, but they're for semiconductor chips. There will be no AI in the world without ASML. And my whole laser executive team is from ASML. So if they can't do this, no one can, okay? They're the most brilliant laser scientists I know. We created what I call that laser tiger team of the best of the best in the US. And we're so pumped up. We really feel like we're gonna make this happen.

• 1:32:08Speaker 03

  And if you're able to create feel cheaper, faster, and more energy efficient than Russia or any other country in the world, you know, they're gonna be looking at us. We're gonna have the edge in the US now, right? So this is why it's so important to actually back Liss Technologies because it could be the X factor in the future.

• 1:32:33Shawn Ryan?

  Where do we get all of our enriched uranium from right now?

• 1:32:37Speaker 03

  Uh, a lot of that.

• 1:32:39Shawn Ryan?

  Does it come from Russia?

• 1:32:40Speaker 03

  Yes, we were buying, you know, billions of dollars a year. And then, you know, they now have, you know, certain acts banning that. But with exceptions, you could still technically get it if you need it, right? I think that's some of the, but eventually they wanna never use Russia, right? But I think you still need that access, but this is why the US recently. You know, um, created a deal with the UK, right? To, they call it, I think, the Golden Ages Deal or something where, you know, they're looking to now focus on other countries where we could

• 1:33:22Speaker 03

  build that fuel capability or to, or to get that fuel from as well, not just Russia. But Russia, once again, controls about forty percent of the world's.

• 1:33:32Shawn Ryan?

  Did you, I'm sorry, did you just say we're looking at other countries to produce some bridge uranium?

• 1:33:36Speaker 03

  Well, we're, we're looking to get, yeah, get some of that to offset that, to offset Russia, right? To focus on how we cannot depend on Russia.

• 1:33:46Shawn Ryan?

  Why, why would we do that when we have lists being built, right? Why would we even waste our time fucking around with other countries?

• 1:33:54Speaker 03

  Exactly. And this is why with LIS, next year's a pivotal moment for us, because we're going to showcase the same results that Dr. Jeff Erkins, um, produced earlier. And we're going to show on a single stage, we could enrich the LEU, two stages, HALU. Once we do that, it's going to send shockwaves across, you know, the world in the US. And then, once we commercialize it, it's going to be a big plus as well. Because commercializing it is saying now we've built the business. We got approval from the Regulatory Commission. That will take also the same amount of time when all these reactors are built.

• 1:34:34Speaker 03

  Um, all these small reactors, which is, I would say, early twenty thirties, um, in or around then. So, the timing of this is in the next, you know, five to four, um, years. This is all going to come to life. Um, that's what we, we hope to happen. But we're all in on this. Um, I think, I think with LIS, you know, I could become a billionaire. You know, that, that is something that we definitely need in the future. And the US should definitely get behind. Um, and we'll be making a lot of noise, I would say, with LIS next year. Because a lot of the things we're doing now are going to mature next year.

• 1:35:17Speaker 03

  And people are going to see, hopefully, the government backing us and, and state level, federal level. But, you know, we, we were also, um, selected as one of the six, uh, companies, domestic companies for the LEU acquisition program, so creating fuel for the future.

• 1:35:37Speaker 03

  That's a $3.4 billion over a decade. Award that goes that the only the six companies could bid for. So we already got some recognition. Also, that the the Air Force Innovation Unit also selected us to do some feasibility studies around that as well. So, yeah, it's it's happening. It's happening, but in the next, I would say, year or two, we're really gonna see a big difference and and we're gonna reestablish that baseline with Liss and with Dr. Jeff Erkins.

• 1:36:14Speaker 03

  And and and the funniest thing I I wanna announce also is like each, I would say, enrichment project has a name. So what I'm gonna I'm gonna go back to Lord of the Rings now, we're gonna name our project, The Return of the King. Right on. Yeah, so we're gonna bring him back, and this is, once again, a US-origin technology. So this is like, we could pound our chests and say, this is made in America, right? Man, that's cool. Yeah. That is cool. Dr. Jeff Erkins, I mean, that sounds like that would be a good interview. Yes, oh, he he talks a little slow, but you you'll love him, yeah. I'd love to meet him. Yeah, you should, you he'll talk.

• 1:37:00Speaker 03

  Sounds like he'll be around. He wrote his own book, too, it's called The Nuclear Imperative. You could actually buy it from Amazon. Right on. Yeah. I'm gonna write that down. Yeah. The nuclear imperative. Yeah, he wrote this a long time ago, so now everything is full circle for him and and he, I, we wanna just create his legacy and and and and, you know, even his paperwork, his CAD drawings, they're so old that, you know, when when paper turns brown, we have thousands of pages that I I wanna create a museum, you know, one day for him and to showcase that his life's work has now changed the world and made also the US stronger than any other nation in the world. I mean, that's incredible.

• 1:37:45Speaker 03

  That is. Yeah. That is something. Yeah.

• 1:37:49Shawn Ryan?

  Anything else to discuss when it comes to list?

• 1:37:52Speaker 03

  Uh, no, we're just excited about what's gonna come and um, you know, there's tons of interests in this as well, like from investors. You, uh, I, I think recently, um, Kathy Woods, you know, the famous investor, Arc Invest, they wrote an article about US enrichment and that US enrichment needs to be built back faster. If not, AI is not gonna, you know, be at the full capacity because you, you don't have the field to power the reactors and they listed five companies and I believe and list was selected as one of the benefactors, right?

• 1:38:33Speaker 03

  So, large investors are even looking at us already, right? Cause they see the potential here. They see that this is gonna be the next generation of technology that changes the world.

• 1:38:46Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah. I'm excited for you.

• 1:38:49Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:38:49Shawn Ryan?

  I'm real excited for you. What else do you got going on?

• 1:38:54Speaker 03

  Um, no, th- tho- those are my two, I would say babies and I'm all in on that. Uh,

• 1:39:01Shawn Ryan?

  Well, you got your philanthropy.

• 1:39:02Speaker 03

  Yes, yes.

• 1:39:04Shawn Ryan?

  Sounds like that's pretty important too.

• 1:39:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's very important. So, you know, growing up in New York City too, as a, a poor kid, uh, I turned to sports. I played a lot of basketball, um, football, like not the real football where you're tackling everyone, but like flag football or, um, and, and you know, I was lucky because I joined organizations that supported me that kind of fostered me and took me to tournaments and paid for my uniforms and I just wanna give that back. Kind of like pay it forward. So, um, you know, I, I, I wanna You know, invest into kids and and through sports and education, right?

• 1:39:49Speaker 03

  Like, teaching them about the real world, but at the same time duplicate what was given to me when I was younger, which is, you know, paying for tournaments, uniforms. Uh, so we have volleyball and basketball for inner city kids right now. And, you know, we hired coaches, um, we run clinics and, uh, we do, we throw certain events to to educate people as well. We donate, um, so that, yeah, that's very important to me, just paying it forward, um, being blessed and and humble about things. And I think that is necessary to add to kind of to the matrix, to add to to the kind of higher power above, right? Like, you, you, you give back, you will receive, so.

• 1:40:34Speaker 03

  Um, and and this is what I live by, and this is why I think people like doing business with me because I'm a genuine person. I don't look for the easy way out, I'm I'm long term. And this is why I want to create a legacy here, right? Like, I'm long term in Nano, long term in this, and and and I think this is gonna help change humanity, help change the world, um, and give necessary energy to humanity across every aspects.

• 1:41:04Shawn Ryan?

  Mm hmm. It's impressive, man. It's impressive.

• 1:41:08Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:41:09Shawn Ryan?

  Last question.

• 1:41:10Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:41:10Shawn Ryan?

  If you could, uh, recommend three people to come on the show, who would they be?

• 1:41:16Speaker 03

  Definitely Dr. Jeff Herkins, like, a movie could be created out of, out of his life. Um, I would also recommend, uh, another, um, my, my CEO, actually, of Nano would be great. He, he has a very unique story as well. And then, um, I would pick.

• 1:41:38Speaker 03

  One friend of mine, who also kind of led the same journey as me, uh, but native New Yorker, nothing was given to him and he would be able to come on and kind of, when I say duplicate, what I've done, but he could give you a different perspective in a different topic and category. So, um, I don't want to say his name because then, uh, he'll get gassed up right now. He'll get, he'll be like, oh my God, I could go on his show. So, um, those are the three I would, I would definitely want to come on the show.

• 1:42:11Shawn Ryan?

  Right on. Yeah. Well, thank you. Yes. Well, Jay, love what you're doing, man. Thank you. Thank you for coming to Tennessee and, and, and doing this interview and, uh, I hope to see you again and I wish you the best of luck.

• 1:42:23Speaker 03

  Thank you so much for having me.

• 1:42:25Shawn Ryan?

  My pleasure.

• 1:42:39Shawn Ryan?

  No matter where you're watching the Sean Ryan Show from, if you get anything out of this at all, anything, please like, comment and subscribe. And most importantly, share this everywhere you possibly can. And if you're feeling extra generous, head to Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review.