CAELUS For Nuclear Future
“Anyone who is looking for a source of cheap power in the transformation of the atom, is talking pure moonshine”- Ernest Rutherford
About Us
CAELUS is the first and only software company that aims to ensure a reduction in the time and costs related to the licensing of new nuclear technologies.
This is all possible thanks to the insights, knowledge, and hard work of a reasoned team down to the smallest details, close-knit and determined to shake up the nuclear power industry. We want to distribute cutting-edge software available to companies in the nuclear industry. To do that, we developed a fully integrated, AI-powered modular environment. This will allow engineers to standardize their workflow and automatically produce licensing documents required for the industrial deployment of new nuclear technologies, with a focus on S.M.R. reactors. Our goal is to reduce costly and time-consuming mistakes that an engineer may commit in carrying out complex and iterative projects that must follow strict and copious regulations. Our mission is to enable nuclear power by putting a revolutionary tool in the hands of engineers.
Our vision is to foster the path toward a rightful energy transition.
So, has this project excited you? Why don't you scroll down to find out more about it?
Nuclear Energy Transition: Chronic Difficulties
Traditionally, the pursuit of economies of scale has led to growth in the power output of individual reactors and, simultaneously, in the complexity of designs. As size increases, not all cost items increase proportionally. In addition, variation in the weight of civil structures and auxiliary systems on the cost balance has always been considered favorable to expansion. However, large reactors have a surface area/volume ratio that makes decay heat removal more challenging, as well as demonstrating according to regulatory requirements that this occurs under every postulated condition without damaging the plant. This results in a complication in all phases of the project: from licensing, and project management to the actual construction and operation of the reactor with a significant time dilation between conception and actual energy production. Over such a long period, there are many risks-organizational and economic-that design companies face:
Changes in legislation
Sudden changes in policy lines
Changing projected needs of utilities or the power grid
Risk of premature shutdown of power plants due to political pressures
The occurrence of even one of these eventualities corresponds to an abrupt slowdown in the licensing process. But why is licensing so time-consuming and delicate? In a nutshell, the complexity and number of reviews, analyses, and documents to be submitted to regulatory bodies for evaluation of the design as well as the location of the facility requires a lot of skilled manpower, from both sides of the process. Asynchronous communication through static documents, whether paper or digital, requires a lot of material to be updated manually at each stage of the project. And this leaves even less room for potential changes that may be needed during construction. In addition, intuitively, the larger the reactor, the greater the risks in terms of time and economic resources involved. Based on these considerations, more and more companies are becoming interested in SMRs, both among designers and users. The benefits of this choice are self-evident:
Reduction in the time required for the licensing process due to simplification of facilities
Reduction in construction time
Reduction in investment size for the benefit of finance ability
New financing mechanisms (finished the first module you can start selling energy to finance subsequent modules)
Reduction of economic and time loss in case of failure to pass licensing procedures
Shortly, the reduction in reactor size will allow distribution to many more sites than large centralized plants. Thus, the importance and number of site licenses and environmental impact analysis will grow. Speed and efficiency in meeting bureaucratic requirements will be needed to effectively attack the market. Nonetheless, because few reactors have been deployed in recent years, the impacts of the resulting phenomenon of the reduction of the skilled workforce due to the retirement of the generation that built and fired the reactors still in operation today should not be underestimated.
The Software
With the digital tools available to us today, we can build an integrated platform for creating, managing, editing, and sharing all the documentation required in the licensing phase of a reactor design, construction site, and environmental impact analysis. By training in Artificial Intelligence on regulatory databases and previously approved licenses, it will be possible to evaluate components and systems of one's project and then generate in an assisted manner the final documents to be submitted to the appropriate agencies. With the development of standardized tools and formats for exchanging data and information, it will be possible to share a single platform with the regulator, ensuring transparency and tracking of all communications, design changes, and updating of engineering analyses, safety or otherwise.
Reducing the risk and economic commitment required in the licensing phase is the main service we offer to our partners, with whom we share the ambition to make the energy we use every day safe, accessible, with reduced environmental impact, and affordable.
Our Team
Alessio Iuvara
CEO/CTO - Founder
Michele Marra
Team Leader - Nuclear
Daniele Baldi Tomei
Team Leader - PR
Sara Marsella
Team Leader - Legal
Alexandra Diana Ciobanu
Team Leader - IT/Cyber Security
Sabina Bracaccini
Team Leader - HR
Davide De Angelis
Team Leader - Business
... and more than other 15 collaborators working on this project!
Our Advisors
Luca Ferrante
Nuclear Sen. Project Manager
Luca Ferrante has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Bologna and 17 years of professional experience, 15 of which were spent working on nuclear sites at MO34 in Slovakia and HPC in the UK. In the nuclear industry, he had the chance to deal with and follow various customer and primary contractor processes, from basic design to turnover and pre-operation. He collaborates with engineering universities in Bologna, Rome, and Pisa where he gives talks on nuclear quality and nuclear site project management. He currently works as a Senior Project Manager at the Hinkley Point C. location.
Raffaele Fusco
People Manager
Raffaele Fusco is a highly passionate professional with a flair for creating new projects and startups across diverse industries, specializing in IoT technologies for agricultural and food supply chain traceability. With extensive experience as Delivery Manager and People Manager at Modis Italia and IBM Italy, he has led the development and delivery of innovative services, from Cyber Security to Industry 4.0, to the Blockchain and more recently the IT Anticovid Services, while also mentoring students in business analysis and development.
Nicola Cefis
Structural, materials and nanotechnology engineer, Ph.D.
Nicola Cefis, Ph.D., was born in Bergamo (Italy) on December 28, 1987. He is a structural, materials and nanotechnology engineer with scientific interests in theoretical models, computational aspects and experimental procedures in materials mechanics and structural engineering (thin films, chemo-mechanical coupling in nuclear structures, radiation-matter interaction).
Renzo Colombo
Senior Project Manager
Renzo Colombo graduated in Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 1985. After three years of working in the development of codes for simulating and calculating thermodynamic cycles for nuclear power plants at CISE, he joined IBM Italia in 1989. After gaining experience in technical/managerial roles and spending two years assigned in the United States, he embarked on a career as a Project Manager, managing both internal IBM projects and projects with national and international clients. In these projects, he collaborated with both C-level management and client area specialists, focusing on migrations to private and hybrid clouds for the entire client application stack. After leaving IBM in 2021, he worked as a Contract Senior PM and is a member of the “Nucleare e Ragione”Committee, serving as the coordinator of committee activities in Lombardy. He is also a Partner at the TOPForGrowth association.
Akira Tokuhiro
Senior Nuclear Engineer
Akira Tokuhiro is a professor and a former dean of the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science at Ontario Tech University, with 30+ years of expertise in nuclear energy, R&D, and technology development. Notable contributions include serving on the ANS President's Committee on the 2011 Fukushima Accident, showcasing his deep knowledge of nuclear safety. Internationally, he's engaged in R&D across various reactor concepts, while holding leadership roles, and keeping a strong publication record. He also mentors and leads multidisciplinary research teams, emphasizing workforce development. His broad knowledge spans nuclear engineering, thermohydraulics, computational fluid dynamics, and technology assessment.
Antonino Caronia
Nuclear Project Manager
Antonino Caronia is a university researcher specializing in flow dynamics, renowned for his work on innovative emergency cooling system concepts for new nuclear power plants. With over 10 years in the nuclear industry, he has excelled as an analyst for innovative business, a project engineer overseeing construction, and a supervisor for design changes. He also serves as a coordinator, managing interfaces with the Nuclear Safety Authority for approval and licensing processes, showcasing his comprehensive expertise in nuclear safety regulations.
Are you curious?
We are looking for potential partners and investors. Join us to make nuclear faster and accessible.
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