The Department of War’s new Janus Project is bringing renewed energy to the nuclear arena, and that’s a good thing. For too long, the nuclear industry has been stagnant and overly cautious. Janus promises to open the aperture, encouraging innovation, accelerating timelines, and inviting new players to demonstrate what’s possible. But with any new opportunity comes a lot of noise, such as startups chasing funding, teams announcing plans, and prototypes that look exciting but have little chance of scaling.

As someone who has spent decades working across the U.S. nuclear industry, at the Department of Energy, in fuel and advanced reactor development, and now at nuclear microreactor startup Radiant, I’ve seen it firsthand. But I also know that nuclear energy is not forgiving to shortcuts. The reactor you draw on a whiteboard and the reactor you know how to build, create a robust supply chain for, and plan to manufacture profitably and at scale are two very different things.