Team Members
Steve Threlfall
General Manager, U-Battery
Steve is U-Battery’s General Manager and leads its development. During his thirty year career at Urenco, Steve’s prior experience includes directing the company’s uranium activities and the successful delivery of commercial projects.
Sean Donnelly
Team Lead, Canada, U-Battery
Sean is a professional engineer and an experienced technical contributor and integrator in a wide variety of multi-disciplinary projects, including new build programmes, nuclear safety assessments and licensing activities. Sean is currently the Director of Innovation at Kinectrics and is responsible for the company’s involvement in small modular reactors as well as other innovative technologies across the electricity sector.
Chris White
Director of External Affairs, U-Battery
Chris has responsibilities covering government affairs across the UK and supporting the organisation’s engagement in emerging markets. Chris’s specific focus is leading on government engagement and outreach activities to optimise standing and influence with external stakeholders, in support of strategic and commercial objectives.
David Fletcher
Head of Business Development, U-Battery
David serves as Head of Business Development with responsibilities that include the development of Urenco’s front end fuel cycle capability for the next generation of advanced reactors. David holds an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Surrey and a Master of Business Administration from London Business School.
John Eldridge
Principal Engineer, U-Battery
John is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and a Visiting Professor at the School of Engineering, University of Liverpool. He has over 40 years of experience in the nuclear industry, including design, construction and operations on reactors, irradiated fuel processing, fuel storage and waste treatment plants.
Tim Abram
Chief Engineer, U-Battery
Tim is the Westinghouse Chair in Nuclear Fuel Technology at the University of Manchester. Prior to joining the University, he was the Senior Research Fellow for Fuels and Reactor Systems at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory, where he retains the position of Associate Fellow.
Paul Clarke
Project Director, U-Battery
Paul is responsible for managing the delivery of the U-Battery activities and brings 37 years of experience in projects, operations and engineering from the nuclear, oil and gas, and chemical sectors. He has worked for several multi-national companies, managing large teams to deliver work in complex environments, including nuclear power generation and nuclear new build.
Peter Bradley
Senior Commercial Manager, U-Battery
Peter is the lead for procurement, techno-commercial assessment and financial control. He has worked in the chemicals, energy and professional services sectors, including roles within engineering and design management, financial deal advisory, procurement management and industrial commercial management. He remains the Urenco procurement global lead for energy and utilities.
Steve Bubb
Licensing Manager, U-Battery
Steve is a physicist who has been involved in the nuclear industry for over 40 years, starting as a fault analyst on the Sizewell project before moving into International Licensing. His major projects in recent years have included the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) in South Africa, where he supported the regulator; and all of the Generic Design Assessments (GDAs) so far in the UK, where he has assisted the vendors. He supports the IAEA on SMR and High Temperature Reactor (HTR) related activities.
Mark Savage
U-Battery UK Licensing and Safety Case Lead
Mark is a physicist with 10 years’ experience in the UK nuclear industry in the areas of nuclear safety and nuclear engineering. His previous roles include responsibilities for safety case management and nuclear criticality safety for Urenco’s UK facilities.
Adam Vernon
Project Configuration Manager, U-Battery
Adam is the Project Configuration Manager responsible for establishing, developing and managing appropriate processes and systems to support the project throughout the development and production / construction lifecycle. He has over 20 years’ experience supporting the delivery of high profile nuclear programmes. This includes decommissioning of legacy nuclear facilities and design and licensing of nuclear new builds. He has a background in engineering, project controls and management, and has spent the last decade dedicated to implementing and improving configuration management.
Ian Andrews
Lead Mechanical & Process Engineer
Ian is a chartered engineer and a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He has 12 years’ experience in the nuclear enrichment industry, including design, construction, commissioning and projects for gas centrifuge plants in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and USA.
Jason Liptrot
Document Controller, U-Battery
Jason has more than 13 years of experience in the nuclear industry within multi-disciplinary projects in areas of project control and quality assurance. He started at Capenhurst producing the health and safety handover files for the E23 plant. He then moved to the National Enrichment Facility project where he worked with European vendors ensuring the delivery of all documentation to Eunice, New Mexico. More recently in quality assurance he managed the handover of Kier Life time Quality Records to the Tails Management Facility, and the electronic reproduction of all vendor documentation.
Andrew Johnstone
Technical and Licensing Lead, Canada, U-Battery
Andrew has more than 15 years of experience in the Canadian nuclear industry with multi-disciplinary projects in the areas of safety, licensing and operational support. He has managed a number of technically complex projects for various clients, including small modular reactor licensing, regulatory and design review support. Andrew was intimately involved in the review of vendor documentation for potential New Nuclear Build in Ontario, as well as licensing support and technical reviews of new reactor design options for Canadian licensees.
Steve Flood
Lead Engineer, U-Battery
Steve is a chartered engineer with 18 years of experience working in the process industries in both technical and commercial roles. He has experience in the design, maintenance and operation of pressure and rotating equipment in the oil and gas industry. In addition, he has developed long-term service contracts for rotating equipment for international customers.
Matt Meakin
Project Engineering Manager, U-Battery
Matt is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He has spent over 15 years working in the high hazard chemicals, oil and gas sectors, and has extensive experience in operations and maintenance of all types of process plant. His previous roles included responsibilities covering design, maintenance and operations as well as leading turnarounds and projects.
Niall Hearty
U-Battery Graduate
Niall is a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Manchester having completed his dissertation on the 'reactor physics modelling of a novel nuclear battery.' Niall is currently pursuing chartership with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Jack Meiklejohn
U-Battery Graduate
Jack graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2020 with an MEng in mechanical engineering. He has completed placements at Rolls-Royce as a manufacturing engineer and an innovation engineer.
Lewis Hatton
U-Battery Graduate
Lewis has a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Newcastle University. He has experience working as a quality engineer for JCB Power Products and, more recently, as an innovation engineer for Rolls-Royce.
Andrew Bailey
Director of Specialist Consultancy and Defence, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Andrew Bailey
Director of Specialist Consultancy and Defence, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Andrew is responsible for leading Jacobs SMR strategy and delivery for Gen III and Gen IV reactor power plants. He has a technical degree in Chemical Engineering plus a Masters degree and Diploma in Business and has over 25 years’ experience in providing technical engineering delivery into the process industry.
Greg Willetts
Vice President Technology & Consultancy, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Greg Willetts
Vice President Technology & Consultancy, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Greg has 30 years’ experience in the nuclear industry and has spent 20 years in business leadership positions. He is responsible for all aspects of Wood’s 650 strong Technology & Consultancy business which is part of Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions business. This business combines the strength of the wider Jacobs global business with the Wood Nuclear expertise which it acquired in March 2020.
Richard Stainsby
Chief Technologist, Advanced Reactors Group, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Richard Stainsby
Chief Technologist, Advanced Reactors Group, Critical Mission Solutions-International, Jacobs
Richard is a Chief Technologist within the Jacobs Advanced Reactor Group and a key member of the U-Battery project team responsible for developing the design of the reactor power plant to date and the consequent research and development programmes for the primary and secondary systems. Richard has 35 years of experience working on advanced reactor systems featuring gas and liquid metal coolants. He has served as the Co-ordinator of two Euratom projects on the development of high temperature gas-cooled fast spectrum reactors (GCFR STREP and GoFastR) and is a Visiting Professor for Nuclear Energy Systems at the University of Manchester.
Heather Beaumont
Head of Profession for Physics, Waste and Environment, Critical Missions Solutions – International, Jacobs
Heather Beaumont
Head of Profession for Physics, Waste and Environment, Critical Missions Solutions – International, Jacobs
Heather is a Chartered Physicist and Fellow of the Institute of Physics with 30 years experience in the nuclear industry. She has worked on a wide range of topics and different reactor types, including advanced reactor systems, such as High Temperature Reactors and Fast Reactors. The former included leading the development of an independent analysis calculation route for a proposed High Temperature Reactor for an international nuclear regulator. She has many years of experience managing a large multi-disciplinary team, working on physics, safety and licensing for Jacobs’s nuclear projects.
Mei Tamkei
Thermal Performance and Analysis Lead, Kinectrics
Mei has worked in the Canadian nuclear industry since 2003 specialising in thermal hydraulic analysis, thermal performance modelling and safety analysis. She has developed various operational safety and licensing cases focused on the application of thermal hydraulic models for nuclear utilities and is highly experienced in leading large, multi-disciplinary projects. Mei is currently leading the development of the U-Battery thermal performance assessments.
Kellie Foster
Project Engineer, Canada, Kinectrics
Kellie is an associate analyst in the Nuclear Safety and Licensing Division at Kinectrics, specialising in new nuclear developments including small modular reactors and new builds in Ontario. She has significant experience in the areas of operational nuclear safety, licensing and regulatory support for new and existing utilities, and project management.
Lee Whitworth
Head of Engineering, Clean Energy Business, Cavendish Nuclear Ltd
Lee is Head of Engineering for the Clean Energy Business at Cavendish Nuclear Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and Chartered Engineer with 25 years of technical engineering experience in the UK nuclear industry. A senior leader providing engineering management and the technical authority for Cavendish Nuclear’s support to New Nuclear, EDF Energy & Fusion business areas, Lee's primary areas of expertise are in nuclear systems, fuel handing and remote inspection.
Mat Butler
Construction Manager for Critical Infrastructure, Costain
Mat Butler is a project manager and Chartered Engineer with 12 years’ experience within the nuclear sector. He is an advocate of early stakeholder involvement to drive smarter decision making resulting in a clear purpose and routemap for successful outcomes. On major projects he is responsible for the project initiation, constructability and value engineering to optimise the construction process and is passionate about low-carbon energy generation, supporting the green revolution required for future generations.
Mary Ansell
Civil Structural Engineering Discipline Manager, Costain
Mary Ansell is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 20 years’ experience across a range of sectors having successfully delivered the design and construction of schemes in the rail, aviation, utilities, highways, water and defence sectors. Mary manages a team of civil and structural engineers and designers at Costain who support clients in developing innovative ideas to meet the UK’s net zero targets. She has an Engineering Doctorate and has published a number journal and conference papers on collaborative working arrangements, supply chain management and lean construction.
Chris Hankinson
Head of Engineering, Rolls-Royce
Chris is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers with 40 years of technical engineering experience. A senior leader with broad experience providing engineering governance and technical authority for Rolls‑Royce. Previous experience includes: Chief Engineer for Atkins Nuclear businesses and Chief Engineer for Devonport Naval Dockyard.
Alan Wareing
Capability Manager, NNL
Alan is a radioactive waste inventory specialist who has been working for thirty years in the nuclear industry, initially for BNFL as a technical analyst and currently for the National Nuclear Laboratory as a Capability Manager. Alan has led a wide variety of projects identifying and analysing the technical issues surrounding the retrieval, treatment, storage, transportation, packaging and disposal of radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel and nuclear residues for UK and international customers. This work has included assessment of the long-term environmental impacts from the evolution of waste packages in various repository concepts.
Curt Hamilton
System Design Engineering Manager, BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
Curt is the System Design Engineering Manager for BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC, responsible for system design related to advanced nuclear applications. He has over 10 years of experience in the US and Canadian nuclear industry, including system design, radioisotope system development, I&C and NDE equipment design/deployment for manufacturing and in-service inspections.
Mary Addario
Program Manager, BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
Mary is the Program Manager for BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC, managing the delivery of U-Battery fuel assessment activities. Mary has over 25 years of experience in the nuclear industry, both in the US and Canada. She has a demonstrated history in nuclear projects, operations, R&D and engineering.
Olga Negri
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Manchester
Olga is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Manchester, specialising in reactor neutronics modelling. During the PhD studies she has been focusing on neutronics and thermal-hydraulics coupling of molten salt reactors.