logo
Laser-Focused: How LIS Technologies Is Turning Science Into Scalable Nuclear Solutions

Laser-Focused: How LIS Technologies Is Turning Science Into Scalable Nuclear Solutions

Nuclear power has long been a whisper in the alternative energy conversation. While many experts consider it a viable successor to fossil fuels, one problem has historically gotten in the way: a lack of scalability. Now, U.S.-based LIS Technologies is finally developing a process to manufacture nuclear fuel on a commercial basis. As a result, the dream of large-scale nuclear power just might become a reality.
It's the culmination of the life's work of two luminaries in the field of nuclear energy, Dr. Jeff Eerkens (often regarded as the Father of Laser Enrichment) and laser enrichment scientist Christo Liebenberg. The journey began with Eerkens's development of the CRISLA (Condensation Repression Isotope Selective Laser Activation) process of uranium enrichment in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Uranium enrichment is the process of taking natural uranium and increasing the concentration of U-235, the isotope needed to create fuel for nuclear reactors. Natural uranium is about 0.7% U-235.
The current fleet of lightwater reactors (LWRs) run on low-enriched uranium (LEU), which is up to 5% U-235. The new generation of small, highly efficient advanced reactors typically requires high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is up to 20% U-235.
Research in CRISLA's development stopped when the U.S. started purchasing its nuclear fuel from Russia. "They funded this technology back in the '90s," says Jay Yu, LIS Technologies Chairman and President. "They scrapped it because the Iron Curtain fell, and Russia flooded the markets with cheap uranium."
In 2013, Eerkens met Christo Liebenberg, a laser enrichment scientist who was involved in several laser enrichment programs since the mid 80s. Together they founded CRISLA, Inc and continued to develop the process. In 2023, they met Jay Yu, who realized the potential of CRISLA, and the three founded LIS Technologies , with Liebenberg as the chief executive officer, and Eerkens as chief technical officer.
Eerkens and Liebenberg firmly believed in a nuclear renaissance, holding that nuclear power was the future of energy in the United States and possibly the world. To realize that vision, they had to overcome the problem of scalability.
Although laser enrichment had proven to be an effective way to create LEU and HALEU, historically, alternative laser enrichment methods have shown that it was either too complex or too unreliable to implement on a commercial scale.
"Laser enrichment has been around for more than 50 years, and no one has been able to successfully scale it, to take it to commercialization," says Liebenberg. "Not one out of any of the 26 countries that have tried it."
That is all now changing, as Liebenberg, Eerkens, and the LIS Technologies' technical team are in the process of developing a new and improved laser systems architecture. "We plan to demonstrate single-stage LEU and double-stage HALEU," Liebenberg explains. "That means you irradiate the uranium in a single stage only, and it's enriched from natural all the way to the LEU level. If you take that LEU and irradiate it again in a second stage, you can go all the way to HALEU." LIS Technologies
Current enrichment technologies can take hundreds or even thousands of cycles to enrich uranium in a commercial setting to the desired concentration of U-235. Now, with the ultra-efficient approach developed by LIS Technologies , large-scale nuclear power is within reach. However, it will take at least a few years to get to that point.
"In the next three to four years, we are scaling our laser systems, separators, and gas handling systems," says Liebenberg. "We're going to scale the whole process and then show that we can do LEU single-stage, HALEU double-stage with scaled and industrialized equipment. And next is building a commercial facility."
When imagining large-scale nuclear power many picture vast, centralized power plants, but the future of nuclear energy will likely look very different. As Eerkens and Liebenberg have been perfecting the CRISLA process, nuclear technology startups have been hard at work creating a new generation of nuclear reactors.
These reactors are smaller and more efficient than their predecessors, and some are even portable. Bringing power to remote areas will become simpler, and the reactors' smaller footprints mean far less environmental damage than old-school nuclear power plants.
It may have taken decades to get to this point, but Christo Liebenberg notes that now is the time for the U.S. to establish a domestic supply chain of nuclear fuel in order to develop the nation's next generation of advanced reactors and produce clean energy.
"The energy demand is huge and will get much higher while the supply is going down because we are cutting out supply from Russia. We can't depend on Russia or China for our imports because that's a national security issue," he says. "There's also global warming. We want to produce new energy that's clean and get that online so we can combat global warming"
It may take some time, but Liebenberg is confident that the United States is headed toward a domestic nuclear pipeline. "There are all these reasons why there's a huge resurrection, a huge resurgence of nuclear power," he says. "We are literally in the middle of a second nuclear age."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Svensson's sizzling 60 sets PGA Tour tournament record
Svensson's sizzling 60 sets PGA Tour tournament record

Yahoo

time22 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Svensson's sizzling 60 sets PGA Tour tournament record

Adam Svensson has made a 48-foot eagle putt on the closing hole to complete an 11-under-par 60 to claim a two-shot lead after one round of the PGA Tour's 3M Open. Svensson also made nine birdies and did not drop a shot in the lowest round in the tournament's seven-year history to lead over American Sam Stevens and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen. As Australia's challenge failed to materialise, the Canadian tied the TPC Twin Cities course record set by Paul Goydos at the 2017 3M Championship on the PGA Tour Champions. Chris Gotterup, who finished third at last week's British Open and won the Scottish Open two weeks ago, is three shots back along with Chad Ramey and Matti Schmid. Zac Blair, Chris Kirk, Jake Knapp and Brendan Valdes are another shot back, with Rickie Fowler and Emiliano Grillo among those at six under and four strokes off the pace. An eagle at the last to break the course record‼️Adam Svensson shoots 60 to take the clubhouse lead @3MOpen.📺 @PGATOURLIVE on ESPN+ — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 24, 2025 Svensson's lone tour win is the 2022 RSM Classic. The 31-year-old has one top-25 finish in 21 starts this season and has missed 11 cuts. "I had a great range session today. Just really putted amazing, I made a bunch of breakers. It was probably my best putting round I ever had," he said after needing just 25 putts, including a nearly 40-foot birdie on the 11th hole and a 34-footer on the fourth. His career-best 60 is the second-lowest score on the PGA Tour this season. Jake Knapp shot 59 at the Cognizant Classic in February. Stevens could have shot 59 with an eagle on the par-5 18th, but instead he put his second shot from 246 yards into the water in front of the green, leading to his lone bogey and a 62 that was still his lowest round on tour. "I have a pretty big gap between my three iron and my three wood, and I hit a terrible shot," he said. "I thought if I hit a three wood, it was just going to fly to the back of the green, and I kind of had to hit a three iron perfect to even cover the water. But I figured that was my best chance to shoot 59, so I gave it a go." Fowler and Grillo are among a group of 18 players who rank between 60th and 80th in the FedEx Cup standings, needing a strong performance to help secure spots in the 70-man field for the first playoff event in two weeks. Fowler entered the week at No. 63 and Grillo is No. 71. "At the end of the day, good golf solves a lot of things," Fowler said. Adam Scott, once again, is the leading Australian, some nine shots off the pace in a tie for 77th after opening with a two-under 69. Karl Vilips (70), Cam Davis (71), Aaron Baddeley (73) and Harrison Endycott (73) all need strong second rounds to make the halfway cut. With AAP

What is 'pocketing' & are LGBTQ+ daters more likely to be victims? Relationship experts weigh in
What is 'pocketing' & are LGBTQ+ daters more likely to be victims? Relationship experts weigh in

Yahoo

time22 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

What is 'pocketing' & are LGBTQ+ daters more likely to be victims? Relationship experts weigh in

Telling your friends about the new person you're dating, introducing them to your family (found or biological), and going Instagram official are huge milestones in modern dating. But what if you start noticing that your new paramour isn't introducing you to anyone in their life, keeping you completely separate from their friend group, and refuses to post about you? That is the newest toxic dating trend: pocketing. Dating in 2025 is complicated. People are getting more and more fed up with dating app culture, situationships and hookups are the norm — which can be fun unless you're looking for something long-term — and toxic dating trends like ghosting, floodlighting, love bombing, and banksying have become a dating epidemic. Pocketing can be equally toxic as these other cruel trends, but it can also be done for legitimate reasons within the LGBTQ+ community, making things even more complicated than they were before. But what exactly is pocketing, why would someone do it, how are queer people impacted, and what should you do if it happens to you? We reached out to sex and dating experts to break it all down. So, what exactly is 'pocketing?' fizkes/Shutterstock So, you've been out dancing, watched a Real Housewives marathon together, are having epic sex, and have stayed up all night talking. Everything is going perfectly, except for one thing: They haven't introduced you to anyone in their life. This is 'pocketing.' Pocketing is a new dating term to describe when one partner avoids introducing the other to their friends, family, or co-workers. 'It can cause many difficult feelings and that you're being hidden. Add our queerness to that and the layers become more complicated,' Anne-Marie Zanzal, who teaches an online course called "Maybe I Am Not Straight" to help people find clarity and understanding in their coming out journey, tells PRIDE. Is pocketing common in LGBTQ+ relationships? While someone in a straight relationship might wall their partner off from the rest of their life, pocketing is more common in LGBTQ+ relationships. 'Maybe your partner isn't out to their family yet. Maybe they're afraid of rejection—or even real harm—if they reveal they're in a queer relationship. So instead of including you in their world, they keep things quiet, Zanzal explains, saying this can be painful even if they are only doing it because of "fear or safety.' Anthony Canapi, an LGBTQ+ dating expert and the founder and CEO of Best Man Matchmaking, says that some queer people 'pocket' a new partner because although it's 2025, the world hasn't changed that much. 'We sadly live in a world where people do view LGBTQ+ people and the community as inferior. Because of this, a person who has invited those close to them in to their sexual identity, orientation, or expression may face potential backlash,' he explains. Someone might also engage in this toxic dating trend if they are dealing with internalized homophobia, are dealing with their family's conservative cultural or religious viewpoints, or are concerned that being open could put them both at risk because of 'prejudice and discrimination,' which can 'turn physical and deadly, Canapi says. What does it say about how someone feels about you? Pocketing says way more about the person engaging in the toxic behavior than it does about you. Is it possible that you're kind of a jerk or a little embarrassing, and they don't want you to meet their friends? Sure. But then why are they dating you in the first place? It's more likely that although they may be telling you they want to be in a long-term committed relationship, they don't actually have any plans to make that type of commitment. In short, they're being selfish instead of owning up to what they want out of dating you. 'For the person doing the pocketing, it often just fills one specific need, whether that's sex, companionship, or simply a placeholder until they find someone they see as a better long-term match,' explains Tammy Shaklee, a relationship expert, certified matchmaker, and the founder of gay and lesbian matchmaking service H4M Matchmaking. But while that may be hard to hear, you're probably better off moving on if those are the reasons they refuse to include you in their life. And if you're queer, it's also important to remember that they may not want to introduce you to folks because of issues surrounding their sexuality, and you shouldn't internalize that. 'Those who are more private or do not acknowledge their sexuality publicly, pocketing might reflect fear of being outed, rejection, or even display and reveal internalized shame; more importantly, these deeply personal reflections are upon oneself, and not necessarily about you,' Canapi says. Is it wrong to do to someone you're dating? beast01/Shutterstock Stringing someone along without ever having the intention of fully integrating them into your life, is cruel. No one should have to feel like your dirty little secret or that they aren't 'good enough' or important enough to you for you to introduce them to people in your life. 'It's really not fair to string someone along if you have no intention of taking the relationship further,' Shaklee cautions. 'The only time pocketing might make sense is if both people are on the same page and have openly agreed that this setup works for them, whether it's just for now or something longer term.' Under most circumstances, pocketing is unkind and almost always hurtful, but it is a trap that can be easy to fall into, Zanzal admits. 'I remember being out with a woman I cared deeply about, and when we bumped into someone I knew, I was very uncomfortable introducing her,' she recalls. 'I realized that it was about my own internalized homophobia and — it was about me. I wasn't ready to be seen because I hadn't fully accepted myself yet. I practiced 'fake til you make it.' I continued to show up with her and proudly introduce her to the world, my own internal world had to catch up. Yes, it was uncomfortable, but so worth doing.' Pocketing vs keeping your private life private Some people lead very private lives and don't share anything about their personal life on social media and don't talk about their love life with coworkers, but it goes beyond privacy when you're getting serious with someone and they refuse to share their life with you or introduce you to people they are close with that are important to them. 'The difference between privacy and pocketing is the purposes and motives behind it,' Canapi explains. 'Is your partner more of a private or quiet individual who doesn't showcase your relationship publicly, but values you in other ways that are sincere and genuine or is their evasive behavior of keeping you a secret that is questionable and that can cause harm to your relationship?' Is it a red flag if someone is doing it to you? Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock While privacy can be a legitimate boundary for some, pocketing is a red flag when it makes you feel unimportant, unacknowledged, and unloved. Being made to feel invisible because of pocketing in a relationship is unacceptable. But what should you do if it's happening to you? What should you do if this is happening in your relationship? If you are the one doing the pocketing, be honest with yourself and your partner about why you are doing it. If you are the one being pocketed ask for clarification about why it is happening, and know that you can leave the relationship if you don't get a real answer or are gaslit about it happening at all. 'If you have open communication in the relationship, it's worth digging a little deeper. Is it that they're not interested in building a transparent, fulfilling relationship? Or is there something unresolved that's holding them back? You can't fix someone else, but you can gently help them become more self-aware by kindly pointing out what you're noticing,' Shaklee says. 'Most of the time, our gut instinct wants to protect us, and ensure confirmation, but sometimes it can be anxiety playing with us. Having a genuine, sincere conversation about this behavior with your partner will acknowledge how you feel, if being pocketed is hurting your self-worth or making you feel undervalued, it's okay to bring it up and set boundaries,' Canapi recommends. If the reason you or your partner are pocketing has to do with still being in the closet, Zanzal recommends seeking out a LGBTQ+-affirming therapist to help you work through the fear and internalized shame. 'Pocketing can stem from fear or survival instincts—but love isn't meant to live in the shadows,' she says. 'We deserve to be loved and love out loud.' Experts cited: Anne-Marie Zanzal, who teaches an online course called "Maybe I Am Not Straight" to help people find clarity and understanding in their coming out journey. Anthony Canapi, an LGBTQ+ dating expert and the founder and CEO of Best Man Matchmaking. Tammy Shaklee, a relationship expert, certified matchmaker, and the founder of gay and lesbian matchmaking service H4M Matchmaking. This article originally appeared on Pride: What is 'pocketing' & are LGBTQ+ daters more likely to be victims? Relationship experts weigh in RELATED Love bombing 101 and how to break out of a toxic relationship What is 'floodlighting' & why are LGBTQ+ daters more likely to engage in it? Experts explain 8 'Toxic' Relationship Habits Queer Men Have That Aren't Always That Bad Solve the daily Crossword

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store