# Deployable Energy: Unity Nuclear Battery

**Source:** The Atomic Show with Rod Adams
**Guest:** Bobby Gallagher, CEO & CTO
**Date:** 2026-05-26
**URL:** https://deployable.energy

## Summary

Bobby Gallagher discusses Deployable Energy's Unity nuclear battery — a 1 MW micro-reactor designed for mass manufacture and distributed deployment.

## Key Points

- **Reactor design:** LEU (5%) UO2 fuel, light water moderated, helium cooled (~50 bar), pressure tube design
- **Size advantage:** Light water moderation enables core size of "a couple feet" vs 8 feet for graphite — 25x power density advantage
- **No operator required:** Load following via helium blower speed; remote control capable; E-stop for emergencies
- **Transport demo:** Reactor vessel shipped Houston→Idaho in an F-150 pickup; criticality target before July 4
- **Factory:** 58-acre, 340,000 sq ft facility in Houston; mass manufacture philosophy (no open die forgings)
- **Business model:** Hybrid gas-to-nuclear transition; maritime; islands (Fiji: 10-12% GDP on diesel, $400-1000/MWh)
- **DOE Nuclear Energy Launchpad:** One of four companies selected; testing at INL + first maritime demo + self-powered factory
- **Fuel:** Standard PWR-compatible, DOE contract, 69-day manufacturing lead time
- **Spent fuel:** Expects economic fuel cycle closure within 5-10 years
- **Bobby's background:** Australian, 4th-gen military (IED countermeasures), Diamond Offshore, VC-backed exit

## Quotes

> "We like to show people what we've done as opposed to what we're going to say we're going to do."

> "America makes products, not projects anymore."

> "We're completely allergic to anything that says batch process."

## Related Topics

- nuclear-industry
- micro-reactors
- energy-independence