Alva Energy announced today that Steven Mannon has joined the company as Chief Engineer, Licensing. Steve will lead licensing strategy and regulatory engagement across Alva’s nuclear projects. He brings decades of nuclear industry experience spanning Licensing, Engineering, Operations, Projects, and Programs, and has worked across the full plant life cycle—from new plant licensing and construction through operations and decommissioning. His training as a nuclear engineer, his experience as a licensed Senior Reactor Operator, and his senior roles in regulatory affairs and system engineering give Steve a unique view of how design, operations, and regulation fit together in practice.
Before joining Alva, Steve spent nearly two decades in senior licensing leadership roles at AECOM. He directed the AECOM team leading Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s APR1400+ Design Certification, delivering the NRC’s fastest and cheapest reactor design certification in history—an essential prerequisite for startup of the Barakah units in the UAE.
He also served as Programs Director and Regulatory Affairs Manager for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) decommissioning project—the largest ongoing nuclear project in the United States. At SONGS, he led licensing and regulatory programs for decommissioning activities, emergency preparedness, corrective action, operating experience, and 10 CFR 50.59 / 72.48, including the transition to ISFSI-only operations. Steve’s portfolio further includes leading licensing work for US-APWR and ESBWR applications, Fukushima Near-Term Task Force response efforts for U.S. fleets, TVA’s Bellefonte restart licensing basis evaluation, and early licensing activities for Holtec’s SMR-160.
Prior to joining AECOM, Steve spent more than 20 years with PSEG Nuclear at the Salem and Hope Creek stations, where he was in the middle of the turnaround from one of the industry’s most troubled performers to a consistently high-performing fleet. He held a Senior Reactor Operator license on Salem Units 1 & 2 and served as a Nuclear Shift Supervisor, led system and reliability engineering organizations across Salem and Hope Creek, and later took on roles including Engineering Manager, Project Manager, and Regulatory Assurance Manager. He managed large multidisciplinary engineering teams, drove equipment reliability and performance programs, oversaw major capital projects and cooling-water system upgrades, and served as an emergency responder in the Technical Support Center.
This combination of hands-on operations experience, fleet-level engineering leadership, and front-line regulatory responsibility underpins the practical, operations-aware licensing perspective that Steve will bring to Alva’s work with regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders.
