He heard a brief talk from Rusty Towell, the director of the school\u2019s Nuclear Energy Experimental Testing lab (NEXT), on the potential of next-generation, molten-salt nuclear reactors for affordable power to lift much of the world out of poverty. Robison was sold. \u201cI met him in the back of the room and said, \u2018What would you do if you\u2019re fully funded?\u2019 I asked him three times, and he wasn\u2019t ready for the question.\u201d Two weeks later, Towell offered Robison a rough plan. \u201cI said, \u2018You\u2019re funded. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robison\u2019s $3.2 million research donation kickstarted the effort and news spread. Then-U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry\u2014and former Texas governor\u2014sent a team to Abilene to study the research. In 2019, the Department of Energy offered fuel and salt in support of the project if they agreed to build a test reactor. ACU volunteered to host it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI held my hand up in the room and said, \u2018I\u2019ll fund it,\u2019\u201d Robison said. ACU President Phil Schubert took Robison aside, asking, \u201cDo you have any idea how we\u2019re going to do this?\u201d Robison replied. \u201cPhil, I don\u2019t have a clue.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few months later, Natura Resources was born as a next-generation nuclear startup, aiming to build smaller reactors using new technologies for cooling and other functions. Robison took the defunct corporate shell of an organic farming company he\u2019d started in the 1980s\u2014Natura\u2014and turned it into the startup, even if it\u2019s technically over 40 years old. \u201cIt\u2019s a transition from organic agriculture to advanced nuclear,\u201d Robison told Fortune<\/em> with a laugh, adding that they both still involve clean energy.<\/p>\n Since then, Natura has grown, as has its university alliance\u2014more than 150 researchers from ACU, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n They plan to bring the first reactor, MSR-1, online in 2028 in Abilene. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction permit in 2024. A 100-megawatt commercial reactor is planned for West Texas\u2019 Permian Basin or near Texas A&M in Bryan by 2032.<\/p>\n Natura joined the Trump administration\u2019s ambitious Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program\u2014involving 10 companies initially\u2014to achieve criticality on at least three test reactors by the Fourth of July\u2014the same date the administration ends subsidies for wind and solar projects.<\/p>\n Natura is not one of the three meeting that goal this weekend, but it hardly matters.<\/p>\n Natura is focused on bringing its test reactor fully online by 2028\u2014even if 2026 was an early goal\u2014and building up a supply chain to scale up commercially in the 2030s. Late last year Natura bought the advanced nuclear development company, Shepherd Power, from energy technology and manufacturing firm NOV\u2014partnering with NOV in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to prove more than anything is showing that we can actually build a reactor system,\u201d said Natura chief operating officer Jordan Robison, who is also Doug\u2019s nephew. \u201cThere is a difference between a criticality test and building a full reactor system.\u201d<\/p>\n Achieving criticality is the milestone when a nuclear reactor sustains its first chain reaction. It\u2019s a key milestone, but the reactor is not operating continuously and producing electricity. An operating reactor is safely generating power over a long period.<\/p>\n In fact, none of the perceived leaders of the next-gen nuclear race achieved criticality in Trump\u2019s pilot program. In addition to Natura, Google-partnered Kairos Power, Bill Gates-backed TerraPower, Sam Altman-backed Oklo, or Amazon-backed X-energy are all focused on building nuclear reactors for utility-scale grid power and hyperscalers. And Natura will need to attract more outside funding to scale up as well.<\/p>\n The three that announced criticality successes by July 4 are all focused on smaller microreactors to power industry or military bases, and not initially utility-scale power. They are Antares Nuclear\u2019s Mark-0 at the Idaho National Laboratory, Valar Atomics\u2019 Ward 250 at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, and Deployable Energy\u2019s\u00a0Unity\u00a0reactor, also at the Idaho National Lab.<\/p>\n All the aforementioned are developing next-gen nuclear technology for small modular reactors (SMR) or even smaller microreactors. So-called Gen IV reactors rely on non-water coolants\u2014traditional nuclear plants use light-water reactors\u2014such as liquid metals, molten salts, or high-pressure gases. They\u2019re designed for inherent safety with reactors that cannot physically melt down even if all power is lost.<\/p>\n But speed is of the essence, especially with the burgeoning AI data center boom and their thirst for more power. The Trump administration already is easing and streamlining the regulatory processes for SMRs. That\u2019s why Natura already has plans lined up to build its commercial reactors with Teledyne Brown Engineering in Alabama, and for on-site design and construction to be led by Zachry Nuclear, Doug Robison said. Speed and scale matter.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional reactors that use highly pressurized water, molten salt reactors dissolve the nuclear fuel directly into a liquid salt mixture. The molten salt serves as both the coolant and the fuel carrier. High pressures are not required and, if something does go wrong, the nuclear fuel is trapped in the salt. \u201cIt\u2019s radioactive, but it\u2019s contained,\u201d Doug Robison said. \u201cMolten salt reactors I believe are the most eloquent of the solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur reactor is sitting in the middle of Abilene right across the street from a dormitory,\u201d he added. \u201cThe reason we can do that is because we don\u2019t operate under pressure. We never lose containment.\u201d<\/p>\n Next will come the process of proving the viability of the reactors to investors, hyperscalers, and utilities. There\u2019s a lot of noise and Natura will need to separate itself from the pack, Robison said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s probably close to 100 projects out there now because there\u2019s so much money flying around,\u201d he said. \u201cWith data centers and AI, people are talking hundreds of billions of dollars. That\u2019s going to attract a crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cComing from the oil and gas background. I\u2019ve never seen a [blueprint] drawing of a drilling rig. Either you have a rig or you don\u2019t,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a rig, you\u2019re not drilling, so you don\u2019t have any production. There\u2019s nothing to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n That will change when the Abilene test reactor comes online, he said. Only a small handful of companies are actually building next-gen reactors right now.<\/p>\n \u201cOur levelized cost of electricity, we think, will be competitive with natural gas, which means we can deploy power onto the grid at a cost that is competitive in the marketplace without subsidies and mandates,\u201d Robison said.<\/p>\n Now Natura must prove it. \u201cWe need to derisk to the point when the financial industry says, \u2018Now, we believe it.\u2019 When they did it in the Permian with oil, when that money hit the table, everything changed. Steel mills opened up. Fracking mines opened up to provide sand. An industry was stood up, and we made the nation energy independent. That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing now.\u201d<\/p>\n But Natura isn\u2019t stopping at electricity.<\/p>\n Robison is eyeing West Texas\u2019 Permian Basin as the first potential site for a commercial reactor because\u2014in addition to the rising electricity needs\u2014the Permian also has a growing problem with handling the chemically polluted water extracted during oil and gas production.<\/p>\n The heat generated from the reactors can be used to desalinate water, Robison argued. Natura already is working with NGL Energy Partners, which has a large water solutions business.<\/p>\n At least one-quarter of the world\u2019s population doesn\u2019t have access to clean drinking water, he said, but Natura will start in Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can generate clean power. And we solve the air emissions issue in the Permian Basin. We start solving the water problem, and we return usable water to the inventory of Texas,\u201d Robison said. \u201cCheck, check, check.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #thirdgeneration #Texas #oilman #transformed #organic #farming #company #nuclear #startup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nearly a decade ago, third-generation Texas oilman Doug Robison was plotting his retirement and the sale of his petroleum company when a trip to his children\u2019s alma mater, Abilene Christian… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[310,6653,630,1526,1037,665,3833,744,3368,12325,12326,748,570,2013,12324,5613],"class_list":["post-10523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-amazon","tag-bill-gates","tag-company","tag-crude-oil","tag-data-centers","tag-donald-trump","tag-farming","tag-google","tag-nuclear","tag-oilman","tag-organic","tag-sam-altman","tag-startup","tag-texas","tag-thirdgeneration","tag-transformed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Leaders of the pack<\/h2>\n
![\"Natura](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Doug-Robison_Founder-CEO.png?format=webp&w=1440&q=100\"\/)
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nOil and gas roots<\/h2>\n