About
Our Mission
Our mission is to develop and deploy nuclear-based power generating equipment that is safe, commercially competitive, and simple to use. We are committed to bringing safe, reliable, and secure nuclear energy to world markets.
USNC is a new energy company. We vertically integrate all the stages of 4th Generation nuclear power production, strictly adhering to safety principles, through technology innovation in fuels, materials, and design practices.
USNC is based in Seattle (WA) and operates globally, employing more than 50 people. USNC has development, engineering, licensing, and marketing teams with subsidiaries in South Africa, Canada, Europe/UK, and South Korea. USNC has cooperation agreements with well-established nuclear suppliers and nuclear construction and operation companies in the U.S., Canada, South Korea, and the UK.
USNC is a Global Team
Seattle, Washington
Global Head Office
Salt Lake City, Utah
Next Generation Fuel and Moderator Types, Production of Near-Term FCM™ for Irradiation
Toronto, Canada
Global First Power Business and Market Development
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Business Management, Federal Projects
Knoxville, Tennessee
Maturation of Mass Production Technology for the FCM™ Fuel
Manchester, UK
UK Market, AMR Program
Paris, France
European Market, Gemini+ programme
Pretoria, South Africa
MMR™ Reactor Plant Engineering
Daejeon, South Korea
MMR™ Technology Development
USNC
- 6 countries
- 4 continents
- 50 engineers
Industrial Partners
- 2 world-leading industrial partners with experience in heavy machinery and modularization
R & D Partners
- 3 major research facilities /
government laboratories - 7 university research units
Our People
Francesco Venneri
CEO
Chief Scientist / Project Leader at Los Alamos National Laboratories, General Atomics, Logos Tech • Over 30 years experience as a Nuclear Engineering and Plasma Physics specialist • Co-inventor of FCM™ nuclear fuel
Mark Mitchell
President USNC-Power
Experienced Mechanical Engineer • Graphite Core Assembly & Reactor System Design Team Lead at the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) • Chair of the ASME Div 5 Rules for Graphite & Composite Core Components Committee • Member of the BPV Construction of Nuclear Facility Components (III) Committee
Ritesh Budree
CFO
CIMA certified accountant with 20 years’ experience in Internal Auditing, financial planning, commercial management, and business management, including organizational control
Paolo Venneri
CEO USNC-Tech
Leader of the USNC Advanced Projects Division • Experienced Reactor Designer • ARPA-E award winner for high-temperature moderator development • First proponent of Low Enriched Uranium fuel for space nuclear applications • Demonstrated innovator for space nuclear systems
Niel Kemp
Director for Power Plant Engineering
Head of MMR™ Plant Engineering • Plant Systems Engineer at PBMR - established the plant control philosophy and systems engineering processes and led the plant design and integration • Professional Engineer • Expert in HTGR system design and integration
Pieter Venter
Director for Nuclear Heat Supply System
Leader of Design and Development Team for Reactor and Nuclear Heat Supply System • Manager of Engineering and Director of Power Operations at a Fortune 500 EPC company in the power, mining, and oil & gas sectors • Significant HTGR experience gained as PBMR Reactor Unit Systems Engineer and Plant Lead Engineer for PBMR indirect cycle design
Ken Darlington
Director for Market Development
Mining and metals industry executive with 25 years ‘experience in international and domestic project development • Long track record in Business Development, Operations, Commercial Negotiations, and Stakeholder Engagement • Registered Professional Chemical Engineer • Led a global business and commercial development team at a major engineering and construction firm, securing projects with capital costs ranging from $50M to over $1B
Mark Davies
Director for USNC United Kingdom
30 years of experience in the nuclear industry • Focus on R&D of gas-cooled reactors including AGRs and PBMR • Specialist in graphite properties development and management of irradiation programs • 2009 - 2017 member of the UK Graphite Core Committee • Member of the IAEA CRP on irradiation induced creep in graphite
Jonghwa Chang
Chief Scientist for Micro Reactors
39 years’ experience in Nuclear Industry • PhD Seoul National University Department of Nuclear Engineering • Specialist in High Temperature Gas Reactor Development and Nuclear Hydrogen • Previously Vice President for Nuclear Reactor Systems and Chief Research Advisor at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute
Won Jae Lee
Director for Core Design
Member of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute since 1981 • Managed Realistic TH System Analysis Code, VHTR Design Technologies, Nuclear Hydrogen Key Technologies, FCM™ Replacement Fuel for LWRs • Director of the Reactor Systems Technology Division of the Korean Nuclear Society
Dominique Hittner
Director for MMR™ Technology Development
35 years in Framatome / Areva (1981-2015) • Design of advanced reactors and fuel • In charge of Technology Development for the AREVA HTGR project ANTARES • Management of the R&D of the Reactor & Services Sector • Management of Euratom projects with multiple industrial and R&D partners (since 1998) • Consulting in Nuclear Engineering (since 2016)
Wendy Simon-Pearson
General Counsel
Specialist in International Energy Issues and Transnational Arbitration • Juris Doctor - The George Washington University Law School • B.A. Magna Cum Laude: Political Science and Chinese Government & Economic Affairs
Company Timeline
2011
Founded USNC
2015
Secured seed round funding
2016
Secured seed round funding
Opened USNC South Africa
2017
Identified new markets in UK and Poland
2018
Opened USNC UK
Opened USNC South Korea