How a third-generation Texas oilman transformed an organic farming company into a leading advanced nuclear startup at a small Christian college
By
Editor, Energy
July 4, 2026, 3:07 AM ET
During a planned molten salt test system downtime, project manager Walter Phillips and lab manager Joe Caton inspect the thermocouple placement to verify sensor and system integrity. Natura’s system has now surpassed 2,000 hours of operation, with more than 1,750 of those hours running autonomously.Natura Resources
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’s alma mater, Abilene Christian University, changed his career trajectory—at an atomic level.
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He heard a brief talk from Rusty Towell, the director of the school’s 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. “I met him in the back of the room and said, ‘What would you do if you’re fully funded?’ I asked him three times, and he wasn’t ready for the question.” Two weeks later, Towell offered Robison a rough plan. “I said, ‘You’re funded. Let’s go.”
Robison’s $3.2 million research donation kickstarted the effort and news spread. Then-U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry—and former Texas governor—sent 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.
“I held my hand up in the room and said, ‘I’ll fund it,’” Robison said. ACU President Phil Schubert took Robison aside, asking, “Do you have any idea how we’re going to do this?” Robison replied. “Phil, I don’t have a clue.”
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’d started in the 1980s—Natura—and turned it into the startup, even if it’s technically over 40 years old. “It’s a transition from organic agriculture to advanced nuclear,” Robison told Fortune with a laugh, adding that they both still involve clean energy.
Since then, Natura has grown, as has its university alliance—more than 150 researchers from ACU, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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’ Permian Basin or near Texas A&M in Bryan by 2032.
Natura joined the Trump administration’s ambitious Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program—involving 10 companies initially—to achieve criticality on at least three test reactors by the Fourth of July—the same date the administration ends subsidies for wind and solar projects.
Natura is not one of the three meeting that goal this weekend, but it hardly matters.
Leaders of the pack
Natura is focused on bringing its test reactor fully online by 2028—even if 2026 was an early goal—and 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—partnering with NOV in the process.
“What we’re trying to prove more than anything is showing that we can actually build a reactor system,” said Natura chief operating officer Jordan Robison, who is also Doug’s nephew. “There is a difference between a criticality test and building a full reactor system.”
Achieving criticality is the milestone when a nuclear reactor sustains its first chain reaction. It’s a key milestone, but the reactor is not operating continuously and producing electricity. An operating reactor is safely generating power over a long period.
In fact, none of the perceived leaders of the next-gen nuclear race achieved criticality in Trump’s 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.
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’s Mark-0 at the Idaho National Laboratory, Valar Atomics’ Ward 250 at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, and Deployable Energy’s Unity reactor, also at the Idaho National Lab.
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—traditional nuclear plants use light-water reactors—such as liquid metals, molten salts, or high-pressure gases. They’re designed for inherent safety with reactors that cannot physically melt down even if all power is lost.
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