Google’s nuclear-energy R&D group, affectionately known as NERD, has supported cutting-edge projects like nuclear-fusion research at the company TAE Technologies. Here, a technician works on the TAE fusion machine known as Norman. In 2014 I went to my managers with an audacious proposal: Let’s create a nuclear energy research and development group at Google. I didn’t get laughed out of the room, maybe because Google has a storied history of supporting exploratory research. While I did not propos...