\u201cAt WeWork, I love walking in the door in the morning,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cIt kind of fills my heart with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanson is the principal nuclear materials scientist at Elysium Industries<\/a>, a quickly growing nuclear technology firm. Founded by two young entrepreneurs, the company is strongly committed to its mission: developing nuclear power plants that are smaller, safer, and less expensive than traditional ones. And most importantly for the company, they hope to provide affordable electricity to wide swaths of the world where it\u2019s out of reach for many residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s an unusual type of company to operate out of a collaborative workspace like WeWork, and Hanson says that\u2019s the key to its success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a stuffy, stodgy naval lab with a clear delineation of responsibilities and a strict chain of command,\u201d says Hanson. \u201cAll of us here are working on everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elysium now has about 75 employees, including 38 full-time staffers at WeWork South Station. Others work out of labs around the world. Many of the staffers, like Hanson, are engineers who have worked on closely monitored projects for the U.S. Navy and NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew Hayes and Carl Perez\u2014who co-founded Elysium along with Ed Pheil, Bill Wangard, and Andrew Dodson\u2014say they are proud of putting together a team that has tripled since they moved into WeWork less than a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe caliber of people we\u2019ve brought together is remarkable,\u201d says Perez. \u201cAnd there\u2019s quite an age range, especially when you consider that Matt and I are in our mid-twenties. Our engineers range from 30 to 80.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perez says that there are \u201ca couple of hundred at the most\u201d with the know-how to work on developing a new nuclear reactor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most, like Hanson, have joined the Elysium team because they believe in the company\u2019s mission of providing inexpensive electricity to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very compelling as a company,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cThe whole concept is refreshing and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perez says that for a lot of the nuclear engineers on the team, the whole project has a level of urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are the last generation that will be able to build this reactor,\u201d says Perez. \u201cThey all want to change the world for the better, and no future generation is going to be able to pick up the ball and make it a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elysium is looking for a \u201cbig solution\u201d to the high cost of producing energy. Right now, the cheapest sources of power are also the ones that produce the most pollution. And cleaner solutions aren\u2019t always reliable or cost-efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSolar panels and wind turbines actually cost more for the consumer,\u201d says Perez. \u201cOur objective is to bring down the cost of electricity as much as we can. The prosperity of a country depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concept for the molten salt reactor has been around since the 1950s and was the subject of several studies in the \u201960s and \u201970s at Tennessee\u2019s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While attending Babson College in Massachusetts, Hayes learned about the reactors from a trustee from his former boarding school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce he introduced me to the technology, I latched onto it,\u201d says Hayes. \u201cI knew this was something big.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s so special about molten salt reactors? First of all, they\u2019re much safer than traditional reactors because they operate at lower pressure and use a coolant system that continues to operate even after an accident, which researchers say make them \u201cmeltdown-proof<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means molten salt reactors don\u2019t require the extensive safety systems of traditional reactors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of the cost of a traditional reactor is the safety system,\u201d says Hayes. \u201cYou need containment domes, diesel backup generators, and 10-mile safety zones. That makes that electricity so much more expensive to produce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Molten salt reactors are also more efficient, operating at higher temperatures that produce more energy and less waste. And they are much smaller than traditional reactors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne truck will be able hold a reactor with enough power to supply all of a city the size of Boston, Seattle, or San Francisco,\u201d says Perez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayes and Perez know there\u2019s plenty of competition out there. The technology has been public for more than a decade, and in the past few years, it\u2019s been pursued by companies based in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and China. Some have already invested millions into their own projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, learning that several well-funded companies were also researching a new generation of nuclear reactors left Hayes and Perez unsure about how to proceed. Then they realized that it was good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHearing that other more well-funded companies have started going down the same path has given us confidence not only in our design, but in our team,\u201d says Hayes. \u201cWhat\u2019s taken them years to accomplish has taken our team months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elysium has already filed for a large number of patents for the technology their team has developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just dusting off the old technology, like some other companies are doing,\u201d says Hayes. \u201cOur team is taking into account all the recent scientific advancements and coming up with an original concept.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The timeline is incredibly ambitious: Elysium hopes to have a working prototype in the next five to seven years and begin mass manufacturing them in eight to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"elysium-industries2\"](\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/elysium-industries2-800x571.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBuilding a diverse team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"elysium-industries3\"](\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/elysium-industries3-800x571.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nLatching onto an idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"elysium-industries4\"](\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/06\/elysium-industries4-800x571.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSizing up the competition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"elysium-industries5\"](\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/elysium-industries5.jpg?resize=2048%2C1363\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n