Redesigning Nuclear Reactors for Mass Manufacturing with Aalo

Matt Loszak is CEO and co-founder of Aalo Atomics, a startup designing 50-megawatt nuclear power plants made of pods of five 10-megawatt reactors each, targeting the data center market. 

Inspired by the MARVEL test reactor that his CTO Yasir Arafat led at Idaho National Lab, Aalo pursues parallel DOE and NRC pathways, betting that factory-built, pad-ready nuclear plants can slash cost, schedule, and grid-interconnection delays. Now 45 teammates strong and raising a Series B, Aalo aims to break ground on its first plant within 12 months and go critical the year after, powering the AI era with compact, clean, always-on fission.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [02:31] From SaaS to fission: Matt's founder journey
• [07:08] Yasir’s path and the Marvel reactor at INL
• [08:56] How national labs help launch commercial nuclear
• [12:12] Aalo’s dual regulatory path: DOE + NRC
• [13:45] Why Aalo is building reactors for data centers
• [17:19] Designing for mass manufacturing, not megaprojects
• [21:50] Security differences across nuclear facility types
• [25:03] Fuel and enrichment: what Aalo had to consider
• [28:02] Switching to LEU+ for supply chain resilience
• [31:04] Comparing XMRs, SMRs, and micro‑reactors
• [33:25] Inside the Aalo Pod: 5 x 10MW modules with built-in redundancy
• [37:15] Regulatory updates on NRC civilian licensing
• [38:43] Nuclear + AI: mutually transformative technologies
• [41:35] Hiring at Aalo: who they need next

Episode recorded on April 23, 2025 (Published on May 19, 2025)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant