David Hay — Making Hay Monday: Haymaker As Host #7 — SMRs & molten salt reactors
"In my long career, no one has called me a starry-eyed optimist. Yet, that's exactly how I feel about small modular reactors (SMRs), particularly of the molten salt variety." A video edition: Hay hosts nuclear veteran Richard McPherson (MicroNuclear) and Doomberg.
One-line take: A 2023 back-fill (over three years older than the hub's newest posts). Hay declares himself a "starry-eyed optimist" on small modular reactors, above all the molten salt kind (MSRs), which he is "more and more convinced will be the safe and pollution-free energy-step change for which we've all been yearning." He discloses that he is an investor in a subsidiary of MSR start-up MicroNuclear (Richard McPherson is a senior executive there), but admits "I have no clue if I've bet on the right horse" and says he will look for other ways to play MSRs. He leans on Luke Gromen (Forest For The Trees) for the framing: barring an energy miracle, America's fiscal future is bleak, and SMRs could drive a productivity boom like the post-Cold-War DoD-to-consumer technology migration. Dow Chemical is named only as one of the companies joining the SMR "bandwagon." The post also announces a format change: Making Hay Monday splits into a shorter Monday piece and a Friday positioning-guidance edition, and a "Chart of the Week" replaces the Highlight Reel Haymakers. The ~56-minute video itself is not transcribed here, so only the written intro and the chapter list are summarized.
1. Stocks & names mentioned
| Ticker | Name | Research | View | What he said | At |
|---|
| MicroNuclear | MicroNuclear (private molten-salt-reactor start-up) | — | Positive | Owns a stake: "In full disclosure, I'm an investor in one of its subsidiaries." A private MSR start-up whose senior executive, Richard McPherson, is Hay's guest. McPherson says rival MSR designs are inferior; Hay grants the bias but finds the "deep bench of nuclear experts," many from the U.S. Navy's nuclear propulsion program, encouraging ("probably right, at least for now") and hopes the pending patents are "rock solid." Hedged conviction: "I have no clue if I've bet on the right horse," so he will look for other ways to play MSRs. | read |
| DOW | Dow Inc. (Dow Chemical) | QT · SA · STK · FA | Neutral | Passing mention — cited as evidence, not a stance: one of the "major companies, like Dow Chemical," that (per the prior week's MHM) are "jumping on the SMR bandwagon." No view on the stock. | read |
Prose-only (no ticker created): the technologies themselves (small modular reactors, molten salt reactors, light water reactors, the U.S. Navy's pressurized water reactor), uranium vs thorium fuel, the enrichment "bottleneck," Yucca Mountain, and the unnamed "other companies working on MSRs." People/sources cross-referenced, not rows: Luke Gromen (Forest For The Trees), Richard McPherson, Doomberg, Alvin Weinberg (plugged in the video). The video itself is not transcribed, so any names raised only on the video are not captured.
2. Talking points
Gromen's framing — SMRs as the next DoD-to-consumer productivity boom
- Luke Gromen: SMR technology "appears to be following a pattern seen after the Cold War ended where technology discovered and created by the DoD migrated into the consumer and business sectors, driving a productivity boom." It is "unlikely to arrive in time to prevent a US fiscal crisis," but "longer term it could easily drive another productivity boom."
- Hay calls Gromen "one of my favorite research sources on the looming Federal Fiscal Funding Fiasco." Gromen has long said that, barring an energy miracle such as a fusion breakthrough, "America's future is very bleak."
The "starry-eyed optimist" on SMRs and MSRs
- Hay, by his own account never an optimist, is one on small modular reactors, "particularly of the molten salt variety." The prior week's MHM listed governments (including the U.S.) and major companies (Dow Chemical) "jumping on the SMR bandwagon."
- He expects Gromen to be "even more impressed" once he looks at molten salt reactors. Both SMRs and MSRs use uranium, but both "produce much less nuclear waste than a traditional light water reactor (LWR)."
Haymaker As Host — the guests
- A change of pace: a video, with Hay "reluctantly" hosting (he prefers being a guest). The guests are Richard McPherson, a friend and long-time nuclear expert now a senior executive of MSR start-up MicroNuclear, and Doomberg (the "Green Chicken"), a trained chemist "highly knowledgeable about most things atomic."
Skin in the game — the MicroNuclear disclosure
- "In full disclosure, I'm an investor in one of its subsidiaries. Frankly, though, I have no clue if I've bet on the right horse." So he will "be on the lookout for other ways to play MSRs," which he is "more and more convinced will be the safe and pollution-free energy-step change for which we've all been yearning."
- McPherson believes competing MSR designs are inferior. Hay discounts for bias but is encouraged by the "deep bench of nuclear experts," many from the Navy's nuclear propulsion program. "It's for sure their competitors aren't standing still. In the meantime, I'm hoping their pending patents are rock solid!"
What the video covers (chapter list only)
- SMR overview and history; SMRs vs LWRs and vs MSRs; the MSR vs the Navy's pressurized water reactor; Navy technology exports and talent sharing; nuclear waste (Yucca Mountain); MSR deep-dive history and downsides.
- A worldwide nuclear renaissance; SMR heat, industrial steam and demonstrable safety; grid vulnerability and "Green" movement fallacies; uranium or thorium and the state of materials science; the enrichment "bottleneck"; how soon an MSR is possible; process heat.
Format change — Monday split, Friday positioning, Chart of the Week
- Making Hay Monday is splitting in two: a shorter Monday edition and a Friday edition "primarily based on our investment positioning guidance." A "Chart of the Week" (possibly two) with brief commentary replaces the Highlight Reel Haymakers.
3. In plain English
MicroNuclear — private molten-salt-reactor start-up Positive
MicroNuclear is a private start-up designing a molten salt reactor: a small nuclear reactor whose fuel is dissolved in hot liquid salt instead of packed into solid rods cooled by high-pressure water. The pitch is that such reactors run at normal pressure, are harder to melt down, and leave far less long-lived waste than today's big water-cooled plants. Built small and in a factory, they could supply power or industrial heat almost anywhere.
Hay owns a piece of one of its subsidiaries. He's enthusiastic about the technology and impressed that the team is full of former U.S. Navy nuclear engineers, but he's honest that betting on one early-stage company is a long shot: competitors are working on rival designs, and the value depends on its patents holding up. So his stance is "positive on the idea, humble about the horse," and he plans to look for other ways to own the theme. You can't buy this on a stock exchange; it's a private venture-style bet.
Summary derived from the public Haymaker post (written intro + video chapter list in transcript.txt; the video itself is not transcribed) for personal study. Not investment advice. © Haymaker / David Hay for source material.