Karl Oslow

Karl Oslow was the founder and CEO of Mass Fusion before the Great War.

Background
Before starting Mass Fusion, Oslow was a Poseidon Energy scientist. For six years, 2037 to 2043, he worked for the megacorporation, perfecting their technology, only to see it sold to the military and used to hurt people. He left the company in 2043, to create his own, clean company. Its flagship product would be energy, provided through Oslow's Cleanpower Initiative. By 2053 his research efforts bore fruit, as the first "fusion" distribution boxes and sources of power entered the market. Through cunning and dedication, Oslow eventually cornered the energy market in Massachusetts, becoming the primary power provider for the state by 2070.

One small problem with Oslow's Cleanpower was that it was power, but it wasn't clean. The junction boxes and plutonium wells were all fundamentally fission-based, provided with lead shielding to protect the users from irradiation. Unfortunately, imperfect shielding was all too common and radiation poisoning was a real risk among consumers. The company, of course, vehemently denied these accusations. It wasn't until 2066 and the unveiling of the first power armor fusion cell that the company truly started providing fusion power, but even then, legacy infrastructure was too commonplace to be cheaply replaced. Mass Fusion continued to operate containment facilities and dumping grounds in rural Massachusetts, hiding the radioactive waste from prying eyes.

In the meantime, Oslow worked with Noel Chandrich to create a true fusion reactor. What originally started as a civilian project quickly turned to military applications as jingoism awoke in Oslow. He clashed with Chandrich over his contacts with the military and the intention to hand the beryllium agitator over to them for use in weapons of war. Most importantly, Oslow forced the project to accelerate, ignoring problems with shielding. As Oslow fumed, Kathy Hathaway discovered a breakthrough in June: Graphene could help resolve the shielding issues. Her composite alloy allowed Chandrich to get the agitator online and on July 29, the switch was thrown.

Chandrich advised Oslow to reconsider deepening his ties with the military, but the CEO's mind was made up. After verifying that the reactor does, indeed, work as advertised, Oslow fired Chandrich at the beginning September.

To cripple his career, Oslow ensured a binding non-compete agreement was signed and froze his pension and contracts to boot. Truly, he became what he most despised: A jingoist capitalist. Just like Poseidon.

Appearances
Karl Oslow is mentioned only in Fallout 4.