Dr. Kevin Peter Hickerson Joins Phil Blancato on The Osaic Podcast to Discuss the Nuclear Renaissance and Unveils Secret Developments.

June 1, 2026 - Earthineering CEO Dr. Kevin Peter Hickerson joined Phil Blancato on Osaic’s Weekly Market Impact Podcast to discuss how The Earthineering Company and the wider nuclear industry have learned from the challenges of the past to meet today’s market preferences. 

“We are definitely in a nuclear renaissance,” remarked Hickerson. “The big problem was as long as we were doing nuclear at a really large scale … that was not going to fit the market’s contemporary demands.” 

Hickerson explained that most of the demand for large scale nuclear energy has already been met by projects from the 50s and 60s. Consequently, demand for smaller scale nuclear energy cannot be filled by selling large scale projects. Hickerson equated this to trying to sell a 787 airliner to a family looking for a new car.

Scaling down nuclear power to a reactor that can fit on a truck is also much easier to implement than a new nuclear megaproject. Hickerson noted, “With megaprojects, if one thing gets delayed, the whole project stalls. With smaller reactors, if one project gets delayed, it does not affect the rollout of nuclear power to other consumers.” 

Hickerson then emphasized how The Earthineering Company is uniquely contributing to the nuclear renaissance. One strong attribute of our reactor is that it uses TRISO fuel kernels no larger than a poppy seed, which are encased in silicon carbide. “This silicon carbide shell means the reactor cannot melt down. The reactor may get hot, but it will not melt.” Hickerson also noted that TRISO fuel prevents radiation being released into the atmosphere, and in the case of our reactor, TRISO can be refueled without powering down the reactor. This prevents lengthy refueling periods that take other reactors offline for months at a time.

With its small size and unique TRISO fuel source, our reactor has a range of potential uses that are truly out of this world. For example, the reactor can replicate the way the Earth took millions of years to produce hydrocarbons in a much smaller time frame. In short, our reactor can produce its own petroleum. It can also onshore rare earth mineral production and produce process heat, which is used to create the chemical reactions that make the things we use everyday. 

At the end of Blancato’s podcast, Hickerson unveiled a secret development that The Earthineering Company has been working on for years. Be sure to listen to the podcast and sign up for our newsletter to find out the next exciting step for The Earthineering Company and for the nuclear energy industry.