Our leadership team implements newcleo’s strategy and leads both the financial and operational performance of the company. They work under the oversight of our Board and Scientific Committee who have extensive nuclear energy experience.
Our leadership team implements newcleo’s strategy and leads both the financial and operational performance of the company. They work under the oversight of our Board and Scientific Committee who have extensive nuclear energy experience.
Stefano Buono
Chief Executive Officer
Stefano Buono
A nuclear physicist and successful entrepreneur, Stefano started his career working for 10 years with Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN and CRS4, in the field of Accelerator Driven Systems and nuclear waste transmutation. In 2002, he founded Advanced Accelerator Applications, listed on NASDAQ until its acquisition by Novartis for $3.9 bn. He is the Chairman of various organisations, and the founder of Elysia Capital, his single family office. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, and received his Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Turin.
Luciano Cinotti
Chief Scientific Officer
Luciano Cinotti
A nuclear engineer, he worked at Ansaldo for 30 years and is a leading expert in Fast Reactor technologies. A Euratom representative and the Chairman of the LFR (Lead Fast Reactors) Steering Committee of the Generation-IV International Forum from its inception until 2010, he is the author of most of the world’s LFR-related patents.
Elisabeth Rizzotti
Chief Operating Officer / Managing Director Italy
Elisabeth Rizzotti
Chief Operating Officer / MD Italy /
A physicist, after a brief spell at CERN, she left physics to embrace the world of finance, working first for leading international consulting companies and then for several Italian commercial banks where for 30 years she developed her strong managerial expertise.
Alberto De Min
Chief Business Officer
Alberto De Min
Chief Business Officer
With a PhD in sub-nuclear physics and an EMBA in management and corporate finance he divided his professional career between academic research and finance. After fifteen years spent at CERN, at Università di Padova and Politecnico di Milano, he worked for banks and asset managers investing in liquid markets as well as venture capital. Co-founder of two technology start-ups and a family office in Switzerland.
John Fenwick
Chief Information Officer
John Fenwick
With over 20 years of experience working throughout the energy industry and both civil and defence nuclear sector. John brings vast experience of implementing business capabilities required to support highly regulated critical national infrastructure programmes. Prior to joining newcleo, John was the CTO at the Atomic Weapons Establishment and is currently an Executive Board member with TLA Women in Tech promoting diversity and inclusion in the technology industry.
Massimo Marino
Chief Education and Academic Relations Officer
Massimo Marino
Physicist/computer scientist with 30+ years of experience. He has operated across sectors, having worked at CERN, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California (USA), Apple, the World Economic Forum, and AAA/Novartis. In 2020, Massimo co-founded KAX, a medical, pharmaceutical, information security and data protection consultancy.
Andrew Murdoch
UK Operations Managing Director
Andrew Murdoch
UK Operations Managing Director /
Andrew has over 20 years’ experience in the UK power industry, beginning as a turbine metallurgist, before moving into various project management and leadership roles. He has now spent nearly a decade in new nuclear development including giga-watt scale developments at Wylfa and Bradwell. Andrew graduated with a Master’s degree in Materials Engineering from University of Wales Swansea.
Richard Tuffill
Chief Financial Officer
Richard Tuffill
A senior UK finance professional with 20 years’ energy industry experience, Richard has invaluable knowledge of commercial and project financing requirements, licensing, site development and organisational programme dependencies, acquired during his 7 years as CFO at Horizon Nuclear Power, a major start-up nuclear power development business. Prior to joining newcleo, Richard was the CFO at Satellite Applications Catapult, a UK space technology and innovation company.
Ludovic Vandendriesche
Managing Director France
Ludovic Vandendriesche
Ludovic is a seasoned professional, an engineer and MBA graduate, with over 25 years of experience in the nuclear industry. Before joining newcleo he served as VP and Managing Director in the Energy & Environment Division at DEF, where he was strongly involved with research facilities as well as new nuclear builds, such as HPC, CGN/CNNC, and the AP1000 China project.
David Vannier
Chief Government Affairs Officer
David Vannier
Chief Government Affairs Officer /
Extensive international experience in government affairs. He worked as an economist on Wall Street prior to joining the World Bank in the US and Asia. He became Board Operations Officer at the International Monetary Fund in 2006, and went on to spend over 12 years reporting directly, as a cabinet member, to the last 3 Managing Directors of the IMF, in Washington, DC. David holds a master’s degree from the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Laura Vergani
Chief Communications Officer
Laura Vergani
Chief Communications Officer /
Communications professional with over 20 years of extensive international experience, she has worked in the UK for the last twenty years in large companies both private and listed. Laura has operated across sectors, including highly complex and regulated environments (banking, healthcare). She holds an MA in English and Russian literatures.
Our scientific committee boasts decades of experience in the nuclear energy sector working across engineering, construction and installation of fast reactors. They lead our scientific team in designing our reactors, developing a strong intergenerational cooperation and know-how transfer.
Our leadership team implements newcleo’s strategy and leads both the financial and operational performance of the company. They work under the oversight of our Board and Scientific Committee who have extensive nuclear energy experience.
Giovanni Corsini
Giovanni Corsini
A graduate in chemical engineering, he joined the team led by Cinotti at Ansaldo Nucleare in 1990. Previously he worked on the European Fast Reactor team at Novatome (in Lyon, France) and was resident engineer in Germany and field engineer for a chemical plant on behalf of Foster Wheeler It.
Giuseppe De Antoni
Giuseppe De Antoni
A nuclear engineer, he worked for more than 40 years in the field of fast reactors, mainly on the construction of the SPX1 reactor (Superphénix), starting in the late 70s as a system engineer during the detailed design phase for the reactor, and later working on its commissioning, operation and dismantling.
Cosimo Garofalo
Cosimo Garofalo
A nuclear engineer, he spent 15 years working on engineering, construction and installation activities related to the SPX1 (Superphénix) and SPX2 Projects, followed by 15 years managing engineering, construction completion and commissioning of the Cernavoda 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants.
Leonardo Presciuttini
Leonardo Presciuttini
A nuclear engineer, he worked as a member of the “équipe commune Novatome-NIRA” in Paris on the construction of SPX1 and on the development of SPX2. He has been involved in the realisation of the PEC reactor and in steam turbine design. His prior experience includes engineering manager at FBM-Hudson Italiana SpA and general manager at Mangiarotti SpA.
Our Board is made up of seven directors, including six non-executives.
They are responsible for the strategic direction, financial performance, and risk management of newcleo.
The combination of independent, external and internal members ensures that we have an appropriate diversity of experience, knowledge and perspectives necessary to drive the long-term sustainable success of the company.
Our Board is made up of seven directors, including six non-executives.
They are responsible for the strategic direction, financial performance, and risk management of newcleo.
The combination of independent, external and internal members ensures that we have an appropriate diversity of experience, knowledge and perspectives necessary to drive the long-term sustainable success of the company.
Stefano Buono
Chairman
Stefano Buono
A nuclear physicist and successful entrepreneur, Stefano started his career working for 10 years with Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN and CRS4, in the field of Accelerator Driven Systems and nuclear waste transmutation. In 2002, he founded Advanced Accelerator Applications, listed on NASDAQ until its acquisition by Novartis for $3.9 bn. He is the Chairman of various organisations, and the founder of Elysia Capital, his single family office. He is the author of numerous scientific publications, and received his Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Turin.
Adrienne Kelbie CBE
Independent Non-Executive Director
Adrienne Kelby CBE
Independent Non-Executive Director
A transformational leader, Adrienne brings over 20 years Board experience of organisational design, governance and regulated sectors. She led the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation from 2016-2021, during which time many changes were introduced to strengthen its capability, and simplify its processes, leading to significant increases in stakeholder confidence. She is now an independent Non-Executive Director for three organisations, including Nuclear Waste Services, and a leadership coach and consultant primarily to the engineering sector. She holds four fellowships including a rare Honorary Fellowship of the Nuclear Institute.
Ruben Levi
Non-Executive Director
Ruben Levi
Non-Executive Director
An experienced nuclear physicist, Board director, investor, and corporate advisor. Ruben has a degree in Physics from the University of Turin and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A founder of Dal 1802 ECSAT, an investment company specializing in investing in high tech companies, tourism, healthcare, and sustainability. He is also a Trustee of the New Museum in New York, and is on the Board of Neos Airline, Italy’s second largest airline company.
Florence Parly
Independent Non-Executive Director
Florence Parly
Independent Non-Executive Director
As a former Minister of the Armed Forces (2017-2022), Junior Minister for the Budget (2000-2002), and Vice-President of the Bourgogne Regional Council, Florence has extensive experience in policy and government. Throughout her career, Florence has led essential lines of work in economics, employment, infrastructure, housing, social security and more. She has also served in senior roles in major French industrial and transport corporations, having served as Director General of SNCF Voyageurs, and Deputy Director General of Air France. Florence is a graduate of IEP Paris and l’ENA.
Raffaele Petrone
Non-Executive Director
Raffaele Petrone
Non-Executive Director
A businessman and entrepreneur with over 35 years’ experience, Raffaele is Chairman of Petrone Group, a holding of 30 companies in three continents, actively trading worldwide and operating in the pharmaceutical, para-pharmaceutical and health care sectors since 1965. An experienced Board director, he is currently Chairman of the board of Pierrel and began his career by founding Fin Posillipo , a financial and commercial consulting firm that offers financial planning, credit management, accounting, and corporate consulting services. Today he serves as the company’s CEO.
Corine Raoux-Fontanet
Independent Non-Executive Director
Corine Raoux-Fontanet
Independent Non-Executive Director
An experienced finance professional with around 30 years of management and leadership experience in international groups, including over 20 years at Nestlé.
During her career, Corine held senior finance roles up to Chief Financial Officer (Nespresso), was involved in mergers and acquisitions, both in-house and in investment banking, and led the Nestlé Group audit for 5 years.
Corine has also held several roles as Independent Board Director at large companies, including Chair of the Audit Committee at Schenk Holding, and Chair of the ESG Committee and Member of the Audit Committee at Unilabs.
Carlo Zuccaro
Non-Executive Director
Carlo Zuccaro
Non-Executive Director
Carlo has over 20 years’ experience in principal side asset management, and held roles as CEO and CFO as part of portfolio companies management. In 2018, he started the operations of Elysia Capital, a family office. Carlo received an MBA with Honours from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business and a Master with High Honours in Economics from Università Bocconi, Milan.
