Senior Nuclear Experts

Rebecca Bost

Licensing Engineer

As Licensing Engineer at Deep Fission, Rebecca Bost brings more than a decade of experience navigating U.S. nuclear regulatory frameworks and supporting the approval of advanced reactor technologies. Her work centers on aligning complex engineering programs with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Department of Energy requirements, ensuring that technical designs are translated into licensable, regulator-ready documentation and schedules.

Rebecca has held licensing supervisory roles during the NRC certification of a 10 CFR Part 52 Design Certification Document, as well as serving as lead licensing planner for NRC approval of a Part 52 Standard Design Approval. She has been directly engaged with the processes that govern reactor licensing in the United States, reinforcing a foundation of regulatory trust and procedural rigor.

Earlier in her career, Rebecca operated a TRIGA research reactor at the University of Texas as a Senior Reactor Operator, and later served in nuclear operations roles within the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Louisiana, a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. These positions required disciplined execution, conservative decision-making, and strict adherence to nuclear safety culture; experience that continues to inform her regulatory perspective.

Rebecca brings 15 years of experience across commercial nuclear licensing, defense-related reactor operations, and regulatory planning. She holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and remains focused on advancing nuclear energy as a reliable, climate-focused baseload solution within a credible and regulator-aligned framework.

Rani Franovich

VP of Regulatory Strategy

As Vice President of Regulatory Strategy at Deep Fission, Rani Franovich leads the company’s engagement with U.S. nuclear regulatory frameworks, shaping licensing pathways, safety strategy, and regulatory modernization efforts for advanced reactor deployment. With more than 30 years of experience at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), she brings rare, system-level insight into how regulatory oversight, enforcement, safety culture, and environmental review intersect in practice.

Rani’s public service career at the NRC included qualification as an inspector and six years as a resident inspector at Catawba Nuclear Station, where she developed integrated, operational knowledge of plant systems and regulatory oversight. She later served in senior leadership and policy roles, contributing to inspection, licensing (safety and environmental reviews), enforcement, emergency preparedness, nuclear security, allegations programs, and organizational culture transformation. She was also a member of the NRC’s response team following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011, contributing to the agency’s evaluation and modernization efforts in its aftermath.

Recognized as an expert in risk-informed, performance-based (RIPB) regulation, Rani has actively influenced national and international regulatory dialogue. In 2022, she proposed an alternative conceptual RIPB framework to inform NRC language under development for 10 CFR Part 53. She has spoken extensively at Regulatory Information Conferences, advanced reactor forums, ANS working groups, and most recently at an International Atomic Energy Agency technical meeting in Vienna focused on licensing of new technologies and regulatory readiness. In addition to her role at Deep Fission, she is founder of Nuclear ROSE Consulting, providing expert witness services and advisory support on reactor safety, security, and regulatory oversight.

Rani holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Bachelor of Science with double majors in Psychology and English from Virginia Tech, along with certification as an NRC inspector of pressurized water reactors. Her work reflects a career dedicated to regulatory trust, institutional modernization, and the responsible advancement of nuclear energy.

John McClure

Principal I&C Engineer

As Principal Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) Engineer at Deep Fission, John McClure brings 18 years of leadership in safety-critical power and control systems spanning nuclear power, oil and gas, and grid-connected renewable energy. His work centers on designing, deploying, and governing high-reliability instrumentation and electrical systems in environments where failure is not an option.

John’s experience includes direct responsibility for nuclear reactor operations and the development of safety-critical electronics across multiple energy sectors. He began his career in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear propulsion program, establishing a strong foundation in nuclear operations, disciplined procedures, and high-reliability power systems. He later spent a decade in the oil and gas sector, where he led research and development of downhole electronics designed to operate in extreme pressure and temperature conditions, ultimately serving as Vice President of Engineering for an oilfield services company.

In addition to nuclear and oil and gas work, John has led first-of-a-kind energy system deployments in the renewable sector, serving as Chief Engineer of a solar energy startup. In this role, he oversaw electrical power system design, operations, and business development for grid-connected utility projects, bridging technical execution with commercial outcomes. He is a named inventor on a patent related to downhole tools for oil and gas exploration, reflecting a sustained focus on innovation in harsh, high-consequence operating environments.

John is a licensed Professional Engineer in Electrical Engineering, registered in California, Hawaii, and Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology from the University of Houston and an MBA from Sam Houston State University. His background across defense, nuclear, fossil, and renewable energy systems brings a system-level perspective to instrumentation and control challenges at Deep Fission.

Mark Pérès

Chief Nuclear Officer

Mark is dedicated to the advancement of nuclear energy as part of the global solution to improve human quality of life and reduce harm to the planet caused by pollution.

He has over forty years of experience in the nuclear industry including design, construction, commissioning, engineering, operations, cleanup, and decommissioning. Mark has held key engineering and project management leadership roles at Kairos Power, NuScale Power, Fluor, Los Alamos, and the US DOE’s Hanford K Basins Spent Nuclear Fuel and Liquid Waste Treatment facilities. Mark started his career as a Reactor Operator at the Fast Flux Test Facility, a 400 MWt sodium cooled fast spectrum reactor.

Mark received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Montana State University, a aster’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington State University, and is a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in nuclear engineering at the University of South Carolina, where he also serves as an adjunct professor. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Washington and a certified Project Management Professional.

Emily Piper

Engineering Program Manager

As Engineering Program Manager at Deep Fission, Emily Piper leads the development and implementation of an NQA-1–compliant quality assurance framework across engineering operations. Her work focuses on establishing audit-ready systems that support reactor safety, regulatory compliance, and disciplined execution within a highly regulated nuclear environment.

Emily brings more than a decade of experience in the nuclear sector, with specialization in quality assurance, documentation control, and regulatory alignment. Prior to joining Deep Fission, she served as Operations Manager at Paragon Energy Solutions and Rock Creek Innovations, where she played a central role in establishing and maintaining a 10CFR50 Appendix B–compliant Quality Assurance Program. Her responsibilities included overseeing document control, records management, configuration management, and workforce training—foundational elements required to sustain licensable, regulator-trusted operations.

Her work is defined by precision, structure, and cross-functional coordination. Emily partners closely with engineering, regulatory, and quality assurance teams to ensure that technical progress is supported by robust processes and defensible documentation. She helps translate regulatory expectations into practical systems that scale with organizational growth, reinforcing a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. In fast-moving development environments, she provides the procedural discipline necessary to maintain long-term credibility.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Business with concentrations in Finance and Economics from Baker University. She brings a balanced perspective that integrates operational rigor with collaborative leadership, contributing to Deep Fission’s ability to advance complex nuclear technologies within a compliant and quality-driven framework.

Jason Pottorf

Principal Nuclear Engineer

As Principal Nuclear Engineer at Deep Fission, Jason Pottorf brings more than 25 years of leadership in safety-critical nuclear systems, with deep responsibility for instrumentation and controls (I&C) architecture, system safety analysis, and reactor licensing in highly regulated environments. His work has shaped first-of-a-kind nuclear technologies and licensing outcomes that set precedents for the broader industry.

Jason’s expertise spans probabilistic risk assessment, system safety analysis, and the design and licensing of advanced safety instrumentation and digital reactor protection systems. He has led or contributed to I&C safety architecture and licensing efforts for multiple advanced reactor and nuclear facility programs, including NuScale Power, SHINE Technologies, X-Energy, and Kairos Power. His experience includes both commercial nuclear plant operations and next-generation reactor development, grounding his work in practical operational realities as well as forward-looking system design.

A defining achievement of Jason’s career is his role as a co-inventor of the Highly Integrated Protection System (HIPS), a novel digital reactor protection system. The associated Topical Report received the fastest approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a new digital reactor protection system—an uncommon distinction that underscores both the technical rigor and regulatory credibility of the work. Jason is a named inventor on the HIPS patent, and his contributions have helped establish new pathways for licensing modern digital safety systems in nuclear applications.

Earlier in his career, Jason served as Engineering Director at Paragon Energy Solutions and as a Nuclear Engineer at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station, giving him direct exposure to both system-level leadership and plant-based operations. He is a licensed Professional Nuclear Engineer in the state of Kansas and holds both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University. His work reflects a system-level perspective focused on safety, licensability, and dependable performance in high-consequence nuclear environments.

Heather Roberson

Scheduler

As Scheduler at Deep Fission, Heather Roberson brings 25 years of project management and project controls experience supporting large-scale energy and nuclear initiatives. Her work centers on schedule integrity, risk visibility, and disciplined execution across complex, highly regulated programs where cost, compliance, and timeline alignment are critical.

Heather’s background includes deep expertise in cost estimating, scheduling, earned value management, performance reporting, and risk management for multi-million and multi-billion-dollar projects. She has operated within environments where regulatory oversight, safety culture, and financial accountability intersect, ensuring that program milestones are both technically sound and defensible from a compliance standpoint. Her approach emphasizes transparency, structured reporting, and early identification of execution risk.

A defining role in her career was serving as Lead Scheduler for the decommissioning of the Palisades nuclear power plant—an effort requiring precise coordination across engineering, regulatory, environmental, and operations teams. Decommissioning projects demand rigorous lifecycle management, long-term planning discipline, and strict adherence to regulatory and environmental requirements. Her leadership in this context reflects both system-level thinking and an ability to maintain schedule clarity under evolving conditions.

Heather brings more than two decades of experience across nuclear power generation, broader energy infrastructure, and technology-enabled project controls environments. Her work at Deep Fission supports the structured advancement of next-generation nuclear systems, ensuring that ambitious engineering goals are matched by credible, execution-ready planning frameworks.

Adam Rose

Principal Nuclear Operations Engineer

Adam Rose is a multidisciplinary leader with over two decades of experience spanning nuclear operations, green power generation, systems engineering, quality assurance, and defense technology.  With a track record of technical excellence and operational leadership, Adam brings deep insight and steady execution to the forefront of nuclear engineering innovation.

Prior to joining Deep Fission, Adam was the operations manager for Element Materials Technology, where he managed a team executing millions of dollars in qualification, testing, and supply for domestic and international nuclear power plants and manufacturers.  Including the construction of a one-of-a-kind testing facility for SMR testing.  

Adam is a licensed Senior Reactor Operator and holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Chris Weindorf

Principal Nuclear Component Design Engineer

Chris is passionate about promoting the advancement of nuclear power new build design and licensing. He has over 18 years of experience solving challenging engineering problems over various disciplines including power and process piping, pressure vessel design, thermal mechanical finite element analysis, and fluid structure interaction.

Chris started his career at Westinghouse Electric Company analyzing major components for the AP1000 pressurized water reactor with expertise in ASME Code analysis and Steam Generator internals flow induced vibration. He continued his career working at Nuclear Power Plants and Research Reactors in the United States and Europe, along with engineering positions in the process industry and consulting for Becht Engineering.

Chris received his undergraduate and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.