The Nuclear Company Hires 30-Year Industry Veteran as Chief Nuclear Officer
29 Julio 2024 - 1:48PM
Business Wire
Joe Klecha’s experience includes $35+ billion
in large-scale nuclear projects built by more than 11,000
people
The Nuclear Company, a fleet-scale nuclear development company,
today announced the appointment of industry veteran Joe Klecha as
Chief Nuclear Officer. With three decades of experience managing
projects valued at more than $35 billion and built by teams of more
than 11,000, Klecha brings unparalleled expertise to the role. The
announcement coincided with The Nuclear Company’s “The Nuclear
Frontier” national campaign tour visit to Charlotte, N.C., for an
event hosted by steel producer Nucor.
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The Nuclear Company Chief Nuclear Officer
Joe Klecha, center, speaks during a stop by The Nuclear Frontier
national campaign at Nucor in Charlotte, N.C. Also shown are
Tabitha Stine, General Manager, Brand & Marketing for Nucor,
and Glenn Sherrill, Chair and CEO of SteelFab. (Photo: Business
Wire)
Klecha’s decades-spanning career includes leadership roles
across major nuclear operators:
- Southern Company: Klecha was tasked
with taking over the building of Vogtle units 3 and 4 in the midst
of the ongoing project. Klecha had previously served as operations
director for Vogtle units 1 and 2.
- Duke Energy: Klecha served as fleet
operations director overseeing six nuclear power stations.
- Constellation: Rapidly promoted over
the course of a decade, Klecha held roles that included oversight
of 2.2 gigawatts of nuclear power generation as a licensed senior
reactor operator.
- U.S. Navy: Honored with seven Navy
Achievement Medals, Klecha led operations and maintenance of a
nuclear reactor and steam propulsion plant, as well as a deep
submergence nuclear research submarine.
The Nuclear Company emerged from stealth mode earlier this month
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 avoids
these pitfalls.
The company’s fleet-scale model combines using proven, licensed
technology and a design-once, build-many approach with developing
coalitions across communities, regulators and financial
stakeholders. The Nuclear Company is committed to delivering safe
and reliable electricity at the lowest cost. This is accomplished
by developing standardized processes and scheduling in order to
sequence work and minimize delays, including moving construction
expertise from one site to the next immediately to improve
efficiency.
“Joe’s unparalleled experience in managing large-scale nuclear
projects is precisely what we need as we commit to building the
fleet-scale nuclear power that America needs now,” said The Nuclear
Company Co-founder and Chair Patrick Maloney. “Joe’s expertise will
be critical to our success as we work to address our country’s
surging energy demand, secure our clean energy future and become a
global leader in nuclear once again.”
Added Klecha, “With the opening of Vogtle units 3 and 4, nuclear
in America is finally ready to again build on the momentum we had
in the 1970s and 1980s. I’ve seen firsthand our industry’s
challenges but have also been there for our tremendous successes,
which provide Americans with clean baseload power for decades. The
Nuclear Company represents a once-in-a-century opportunity to
ensure America remains the nuclear technology leader the world
over.”
Klecha’s hiring comes as The Nuclear Company continues The
Nuclear Frontier national campaign, which started in Pittsburgh at
the annual conference held by U.S. Women in Nuclear. The
5,000-member group is led by Juliann Edwards, who serves as Chief
Development Officer of The Nuclear Company.
“Joe’s eagerness to join The Nuclear Company is a testament to
our industry-redefining business model that will dramatically
improve how large-scale, nuclear infrastructure projects are
delivered,” Edwards said.
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
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240729503445/en/
The Nuclear Company Media Relations:
thenuclearcompany@berlinrosen.com