Hadron Energy Appoints Ken Canavan as Chief Operating Officer, Rahul Shukla as Chief Financial Officer, and Expands Technical, Regulatory, and Board Leadership

New York, NY – Hadron Energy, Inc. (“Hadron” or “Company”) today announced the appointment of Ken Canavan as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Rahul Shukla as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), alongside the addition of Dr. Lander Ibarra and Jason Christensen to its senior technical and regulatory leadership team. The Company also announced that following the closing of its business combination with GigCapital7 Corp. (Nasdaq: GIG), that in addition to the individuals previously announced as joining the post-combination company’s Board of Directors, Raanan Horowitz will be an eighth member of the post-combination Hadron Board of Directors and will serve as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee.

Together, these appointments further strengthen Hadron’s leadership as the Company advances toward commercialization of its Halo Micro-Modular Reactor (“MMR”) and prepares for its proposed $1.2 billion public listing through its business combination with GigCapital7.

Collectively, these additions bring deep experience across nuclear operations, advanced reactor licensing, regulatory engagement, manufacturing readiness, public-company finance, governance, and national security, reinforcing Hadron’s leadership team to support its future plans to execute First-of-a-Kind (“FOAK”) deployment of the Halo MMR and scale to repeatable commercial delivery.

Mr. Canavan joins Hadron as COO, bringing nearly four decades of experience across nuclear operations, advanced reactor development, global research and development (“R&D”), and enterprise transformation. His career spans leadership roles at owner-operators, national laboratories, global technology providers, and industry research institutions, positioning him uniquely to oversee Hadron’s FOAK-to-NOAK operational execution.

Most recently, Mr. Canavan served as President and Chief Executive Officer of E4 Carolinas, where he restructured and repositioned the organization for growth. Prior to that, he was Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Nuclear Technology at Westinghouse Electric Company, leading the Global Technology Office and overseeing major innovation programs, including Accident Tolerant Fuel initiatives and the eVinci Microreactor program, a more than $200 million advanced reactor development effort.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Canavan spent over15 years at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as Director of NuclearPlant Technology, managing a global R&D portfolio exceeding $50 million annually. He began his career in nuclear safety and probabilistic risk assessment at utility owner-operators, including Three Mile Island and OysterCreek.

As COO, Mr. Canavan will lead operations, program management, manufacturing strategy, supply-chain readiness, quality execution, and FOAK deployment.

Mr. Shukla joins Hadron as CFO with deep expertise in public-company finance, SEC reporting, capital structure, M&A integration, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”)-compliant financial operations, having led finance and accounting organizations across energy, healthcare, SaaS, and technology platforms.

He most recently served as Chief Accounting Officer at Stem, Inc., a publicly traded clean-energy software company, where he oversaw global accounting teams, led audit and SOX remediation efforts, managed complex technical accounting matters, and supported a $700 million acquisition integration.

Previously, Mr. Shukla held senior finance leadership roles at Natera, Inc. and eHealth, Inc., where he supported multiple public offerings totaling more than $1.6 billion in capital raised and materially accelerated close and reporting timelines. Mr. Shukla began his career at KPMG, focusing on M&A and transaction advisory, and holds a degree from the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business. As CFO, he will oversee financial strategy, capital markets readiness, SEC reporting, internal controls, and financial infrastructure.

Dr. Ibarra joins Hadron as a Principal Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics Engineer, bringing licensing-grade expertise in light-water reactor thermal-hydraulics, safety analysis, uncertainty quantification, and NQA-1 / 10 CFR Appendix B quality frameworks.

He most recently served as a Principal Nuclear Engineer at Argonne National Laboratory, where he led thermal-hydraulic methods development and software qualification for advanced reactor applications, served as software quality lead under ASME NQA-1 practices, and directed verification, validation, and configuration-control programs for safety-analysis tools. Previously, Dr. Ibarra spent more than a decade at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, supporting light water reactor reload licensing, stability analysis, and safety-limit methodologies across the operating boiling water reactor fleet.

Dr. Ibarra holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering and has extensive experience interfacing with regulators on licensing-grade analyses. At Hadron, he will lead core thermal-hydraulic modeling, safety analysis, and licensing support for the Halo reactor.

Mr. Christensen joins Hadron as Director of Regulatory Affairs and Licensing, bringing more than 15 years of experience across the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), Idaho National Laboratory, and the Department of Energy’s (“DOE’s”) advanced reactor and microreactor programs. He currently serves as a Regulatory Development and Support Engineer at Idaho National Laboratory, where he supports the DOE Microreactor Program, GAIN, and regulatory development initiatives, including manufacturing license analysis, microreactor transportation, and regulatory technology development planning. Previously, Mr. Christensen served as a Construction Inspector and Materials Engineer at the U.S. NRC, with hands-on experience across 10 CFR Parts 50, 52, and 70; Appendix B; ITAAC inspections; and AP1000 construction oversight.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a nuclear engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding, supporting U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion programs. Mr. Christensen holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s inEngineering Management, and is currently completing an M.S. in Nuclear Science and Engineering. At Hadron, he will lead regulatory engagement, licensing strategy execution, and government-interface coordination.

Raanan Horowitz will join the post-combination Hadron Board of Directors and will serve as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee, strengthening the Board’s leadership in governance, national security engagement, and public-company oversight following Hadron’s consummation of its business combination with GigCapital7.

Mr. Horowitz is a seasoned chief executive and board director who previously served as President and CEO of Elbit Systems of America, where he led the U.S. subsidiary of a global defense-technology company into a $1.6 billion enterprise, overseeing operations across multiple U.S. locations and a workforce of more than 3,600 employees. His career reflects deep experience at the intersection of critical infrastructure, government customers, advanced technology, and highly regulated environments.

He currently serves on the boards of GigCapital7, DFW International Airport, Business Executives for National Security, Parry Labs, and the Institute for Defense Analyses, and is actively engaged with senior stakeholders across the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. national-security policy organizations. His experience includes supporting energy resilience, supply-chain security, and large-scale infrastructure deployment for mission-critical applications.

“These appointments collectively mark a major inflection point for Hadron,” said Samuel Gibson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hadron. “Ken and Rahul anchor our operational and financial leadership as we move toward public markets, while Lander and Jason add world-class depth in licensing-grade engineering and regulatory execution. With Raanan joining Hadron’s announced post-closing Board with 8 total members led by Executive Chairman Dr. Avi Katz, Rannan further strengthens Hadron’s governance, national-security engagement, and long-term strategic positioning. Together, we hope this leadership team will significantly enhance our ability to deliver the Halo MMR safely, on schedule, and at scale.”

The appointments build on Hadron’s recent progress across NRC engagement, board formation, and its proposed $1.2 billion business combination with GigCapital7, reinforcing the Company’s position as a leading developer of light-water MMRs designed for near-term commercial deployment.

Too see the full press release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260108569859/en/Hadron-Energy-Appoints-Ken-Canavan-as-Chief-Operating-Officer-Rahul-Shukla-as-Chief-Financial-Officer-and-Expands-Technical-Regulatory-and-Board-Leadership