Two key hires bring more than 65 years of experience in large-scale nuclear projects

The Nuclear Company, which is working to deploy 6 gigawatts of fleet-scale nuclear power across America, today announced two key construction hires with more than 65 years of combined experience in the industry. The Nuclear Company’s unique model brings together a consortium of utilities, independent power producers, hyperscalers, nuclear technology suppliers, and private equity partners to share the responsibility of building such large-scale infrastructure.

“Kevin Stafford and Glen Chick both held key roles in the construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4, the first new nuclear reactors built in America in more than 30 years,” said The Nuclear Company Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Klecha. “They helped lead the pioneering construction workers who made Vogtle happen and will help The Nuclear Company return America to global leadership in nuclear power.”

With more than two decades of experience, Stafford joins as vice president of construction and will lead The Nuclear Company’s on-the-ground efforts to build fleet-scale nuclear across America. He joins The Nuclear Company from Bechtel, where he served as site manager for Vogtle units 3 and 4. Stafford led more than 2,000 workers in achieving the monumental feat, overseeing all aspects of construction and contractor operations with a particular emphasis on safety, quality control and efficient project closeout.

Stafford was promoted to the site manager role after serving in positions including construction manager of multiple areas for Bechtel and construction engineering manager for Westinghouse, which developed the first-of-a-kind AP1000 reactor technology. As construction manager of unit 3, Stafford oversaw final completion, commissioning, and turnover of all systems and areas to the client. As balance-of-plant construction manager, he was responsible for installation of all underground and above-ground mechanical, electrical and structural commodities. During his time with Westinghouse, Stafford led technical construction engineering functions for all structural module fabrication and mechanical installations on the project.

Prior to starting on the AP1000 projects, Stafford worked for Bechtel in roles of increasing responsibility, including mechanical construction engineer, mechanical design engineer, construction superintendent, project controls engineer and process improvement engineer.

Chick joins as executive advisor, bringing more than 45 years of experience in nuclear plant construction and operations. He served as a Southern Nuclear executive vice president from 2018 to 2024 and was responsible for the completion of construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4. His work also involved the performance of the testing and commissioning process for the units.

Chick’s industry experience also includes a decade at Exelon, where he served in roles including site vice president and plant manager with responsibilities for operational performance targets and both regulatory and security requirements. His time at Exelon included five years as vice president with a focus on key alliances and refueling outages across the company’s fleet of nuclear reactors.

Over his career, which began as a certified pipe welder, Chick also served in management and maintenance roles at Perry Nuclear Power Plant outside Cleveland and Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant outside Dallas, as well as Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida.

The Nuclear Company emerged from stealth mode in July with the mission to address America’s surging energy demand driven by AI data computing, onshoring manufacturing, and the electrification of everything. The International Energy Agency projects global electricity demand will increase nearly 30 percent by 2030 — the equivalent of adding the energy requirements of another United States and European Union combined. Despite the need for nuclear’s zero-carbon power, the biggest challenge facing the industry is that one-off nuclear projects almost always are over budget and behind schedule. The Nuclear Company’s model seeks to avoid these pitfalls.

The company’s fleet-scale model combines using proven, licensed technology and a design-once, build-many approach to lower costs and minimize delays. The model is anchored by the Industry Working Group of partners that helps mitigate risk and make nuclear power an attractive investment.

Stafford and Chick join other recent construction and engineering hires including:

• Vice President of Engineering David Woods: Woods served as engineering director for Southern Nuclear for Vogtle units 3 and 4, also overseeing site design and resident engineering.
• Senior Director of Procurement and Construction George Koucheravy: Koucheravy has more than five decades of experience in nuclear and served in a variety of leadership roles for Southern Nuclear and Westinghouse Electric Company supporting the completion of Vogtle units 3 and 4.
• Director of Project Controls Sumantra Ghosh: Ghosh joined from TC Energy, where he led project execution for all initiatives and focused on public-private partnerships.

About The Nuclear Company

The Nuclear Company is a fleet-scale nuclear development company using proven technology to construct a series of nuclear power plants across America. Through its design-once, build-many approach and coalition building across communities, regulators, and financial stakeholders, The Nuclear Company is committed to delivering safe and reliable electricity at the lowest cost, while catalyzing the nuclear industry toward rapid development in America and globally. For more information, visit: www.thenuclearcompany.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241119625776/en/