Hadron Energy Expands Engineering, Operations, and Finance Team with Six Strategic Hires Ahead of Microreactor Commercialization

Key Terms

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Probabilistic risk assessment is a method that quantifies the likelihood and potential size of adverse events by combining a range of possible scenarios with their probabilities, producing a distribution of possible outcomes rather than a single guess. For investors, it provides a clearer picture of downside exposure and chance of losses—like a weather forecast that says there’s a 30% chance of heavy rain—so decision-making, pricing, and contingency planning can account for both how likely and how severe risks might be.

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A senior reactor operator is the licensed person who oversees and controls a commercial nuclear reactor’s day-to-day operations, safety systems, and emergency procedures, effectively acting as the plant’s captain. Investors care because this role directly affects a plant’s safety, regulatory standing and operational reliability—factors that influence production, legal risk and the company’s reputation; a skilled operator reduces the chance of costly shutdowns or fines.

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A section of U.S. federal rules that sets the requirements for licensing, construction, operation, and safety of commercial nuclear reactors and related facilities. It matters to investors because it defines the permits, inspections, safety standards, and potential liabilities that can shape project timelines, costs, and the likelihood a plant can operate or be modified—think of it as the building code and inspection regime for nuclear power projects that influences regulatory risk and capital planning.

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A federal law that sets rules requiring public companies to keep accurate financial records, maintain strong internal checks on accounting, and allow independent audits. Think of it as a safety inspection for a company’s financial reporting: it raises the bar for honesty and transparency so investors can trust statements about revenue, profit, and risk. It matters because better controls reduce the chance of fraud and surprise losses, though meeting the rules can raise a company’s operating costs.

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hadron Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HDRN) (“Hadron” or the “Company”), an advanced nuclear technology company developing the Halo Micro-Modular Reactor (“MMR”), today announced the addition of six professionals across engineering, program management, and finance. The hires deepen the Company’s technical and operational team at a pivotal moment, following Hadron’s Nasdaq listing, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (“NRC”) acceptance of its Quality Assurance Program Description (QAPD), and the publication of its first U.S. patent application, and as the Company advances the Halo MMR through design, licensing, and supplier selection toward commercial deployment.

New additions span reactor systems, probabilistic risk assessment, instrumentation & controls, fluid systems, program management, and finance, deepening the team driving Hadron Energy (Nasdaq: HDRN) toward first commercial power for the Halo Micro-Modular Reactor

Collectively, the new team members bring experience spanning the operating nuclear fleet, advanced and small modular reactor programs, safety-grade instrumentation and controls, aerospace fluid systems, and public-company finance, capabilities that map directly to the disciplines required to design, license, manufacture, and operate a first-of-a-kind commercial microreactor.

“Commercializing a microreactor is a team effort. Each of these hires strengthens a specific skillset we need to take the Halo MMR from design to operation, reactor systems, probabilistic risk assessment, instrumentation and controls, fluids, program execution, and the financial discipline of a public company. Bringing this caliber of talent to Hadron is one of the clearest signals of the momentum behind our mission,”
Sam Gibson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hadron Energy

Meet the New Team Members

Brian Arnholt, Director of Reactor Systems

Brian Arnholt leads reactor systems engineering for the Halo MMR, bringing three decades of nuclear leadership across first-of-a-kind design, development, and licensing. Most recently he served as a Senior Consultant in digital modernization at Sargent & Lundy and was an I&C consultant to TerraPower’s Natrium project. He spent nearly a decade at NuScale Power as Engineering Manager and Principal Engineer for Instrumentation & Controls, where he authored the I&C content of the NuScale Design Certification Application and helped secure U.S. NRC approval of the design’s I&C systems, a milestone for small modular reactor licensing. Earlier, he served as Director of I&C & Simulation for Babcock & Wilcox’s Generation mPower SMR venture, led plant control systems engineering at General Electric, and held reactor engineering and operations supervisor roles at Exelon, including Senior Reactor Operator license training. He holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering (cum laude) from the University of Michigan and is a published author on SMR I&C design and licensing.

Ian Francis, Probabilistic Risk Assessment Engineer

Ian Francis joins Hadron from TerraPower’s Natrium project, where he served as a Senior PRA Engineer leading external-hazards risk modeling, EPZ boundary analysis, and Generation Risk Assessment methodology, and previously as a Senior Plant Integration Engineer applying the NEI 18-04 Licensing Modernization Project framework to an advanced reactor. Earlier, at Talen Energy, he was a licensed Senior Reactor Operator/Unit Supervisor and Senior Reactor Engineer responsible for reactivity management of two 4,000 MWth reactors, and a station PRA subject-matter expert. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Nuclear Engineering from The Ohio State University, and brings extensive command of the EPRI PRA software suite (CAFTA, FTREX, Phoenix) and SAPHIRE.

Rufino Ayala, Lead Instrumentation & Controls Engineer

Rufino Ayala brings 18 years of safety instrumentation and controls (I&C) design experience and is a co-inventor of the FPGA-based Highly Integrated Protection System (HIPS) platform (U.S. Patent No. 11,069,450), a safety I&C platform planned for use across leading advanced-reactor and defense programs. Most recently Chief Engineer at Paragon Energy Solutions / Rock Creek Innovations, Hadron’s I&C collaboration partner, he has led HIPS platform development, model-based design with Simulink, and the authoring and defense of licensing topical reports before the NRC and ACRS. At Hadron, he leads the instrumentation and controls architecture for the Halo MMR.

Nicholas Bell, P.E., Senior Fluids Systems Engineer

Nicholas Bell joins from Blue Origin, where he led component, architecture, and test decisions for the New Glenn second-stage pressurization control system, and previously from SpaceX, where he designed and activated launch fluid systems at Cape Canaveral. He brings more than six years of experience designing and operating high-pressure, high-temperature, and cryogenic thermo-fluid systems, with expertise in fluid dynamics, thermal analysis, and component design. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida. At Hadron, he leads the design of the Halo MMR’s fluid systems.

Stacee Kruskamp, PMP, Senior Project Manager

Stacee Kruskamp joins from Holtec International, where she most recently served as Senior Manager, Project Management for the SMR-300, supervising project managers, establishing project governance, leading the SMR-300 testing team (including testing at Idaho National Laboratory), supporting the NRC Construction Permit Application, and driving supplier oversight and supply-chain readiness for the build at the Palisades Nuclear Plant. Earlier, as a Project Manager at NuScale Power, she managed design-finalization, research and development, and international deployment activities. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a background spanning nuclear, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing, she brings disciplined program execution, grounded in 10 CFR Part 50, NQA-1, and NUREG-0800, to coordinating the engineering, licensing, and supply-chain workstreams required to bring the Halo MMR to market.

Artem Sergienko, CPA, Controller

Artem Sergienko joined Hadron in January 2026 and has been instrumental in the Company’s financial operations, including the financial workstreams supporting Hadron’s business combination with GigCapital7 Corp. and its transition to a Nasdaq-listed public company. He brings more than 15 years of finance and accounting experience, including senior controllership roles at Stem, Inc. and Natera, Inc. and a revenue controller role at General Electric’s Digital division, with deep expertise in SEC reporting, U.S. GAAP, and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance for public companies. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

About Hadron Energy, Inc.

Hadron Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HDRN) is an advanced nuclear technology company focused on developing the Halo Micro-Modular Reactor (MMR), a 10 megawatt-electric factory-manufactured, transportable light-water reactor. Engineered to deliver continuous, emission-free baseload power and heat with a multi-year refueling cycle, Hadron aims to meet growing demand for clean, scalable, and rapidly deployable energy. As an integrated designer, manufacturer, and owner-operator, the Company is dedicated to powering data centers, industrial and heavy-manufacturing facilities, remote communities, and grid stabilization. For more information, visit www.hadronenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Hadron’s development, licensing, and commercialization of the Halo MMR. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the management of Hadron in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions being made prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625339904/en/

Investor and Media Contact
Hadron Energy Investor Center: https://www.hadronenergy.com/investor-relations
Samuel Gibson, Chief Executive Officer
sgibson@hadronenergy.com

Source: Hadron Energy, Inc.