Figure 1 – Professor Massimiliano Fratoni, Ph.D., Chair in the UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department, Becomes the Senior Director and Head of Reactor Design of NANO Nuclear Energy Inc.

Massimiliano Fratoni is a Xenel Distinguished Professor, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a Laurea in Nuclear Engineering from Università di Roma “La Sapienza” (Italy), and a MSc and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Nuclear Engineering Department at UCB, he held a Research Scientist position at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a faculty position at The Pennsylvania State University.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Prof. Fratoni, a world-renowned nuclear engineer, to the NANO Nuclear team. It is an honor that both of our microreactor development teams are led by Chairs from two of the world’s most prestigious institutions,” said Jay Yu, Executive Chairman and President of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Prof. Fratoni is a leading expert and engineer in the advanced nuclear technology field and has been key in the design and development of our ‘ZEUS’ portable microreactor. His contributions to our company have been brilliant and I am confident that this new role will help us to better leverage his years of experience and position NANO Nuclear at the cutting-edge of the industry.”

Prof. Fratoni’s main research interests are in sustainable nuclear energy through advanced reactors and advanced fuel cycles. His research is focused on developing innovative engineering solutions that will facilitate the widespread deployment and adoption of advanced nuclear energy technologies. Prof. Fratoni is the author of more than 200 publications in the areas of advanced reactors and advanced fuel cycles. He received the American Nuclear Society Early Career Reactor Physicist Award (2018) and the Untermyer & Cisler Reactor Technology Medal (2024).

Generating 1 to 2 megawatts of electric output, NANO Nuclear’s ‘ZEUS’ microreactor in development is a solid core battery reactor intended to be a mobile and safe energy solution. ZEUS is being optimized to meet the diverse needs of various industries, including data centers, AI and quantum computing, crypto mining, military applications, disaster relief efforts and isolated regions, transportation and shipping, mining projects, water desalination plants, green hydrogen production, and even space exploration. NANO Nuclear’s goal is to commercially launch its microreactors by approximately 2030.

“I’m incredibly happy to count Massimiliano as a member of our team,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Reactor Development of NANO Nuclear Energy. “His contributions to the development of ‘ZEUS’ have been truly inspiring, and I am confident that this new role will allow him to fully leverage his extensive knowledge and capabilities. The flexibility and simplicity of Prof. Fratoni’s design enables us to serve a diverse array of industries and niches in ways that existing energy sources cannot. It will be a pleasure to continue leading the transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions alongside Prof. Fratoni.”

Figure 2 – Artist Rendering of NANO Nuclear Energy’s ‘ZEUS’ Advanced Portable Nuclear Microreactor