Philip Jensen
VP of Fuel Programs and Operations
Philip Jensen leads Zap Energy's fuel programs and operations, building the fuel capabilities and partnerships behind Zap's advanced reactor technologies.
Jensen brings deep expertise in nuclear fuel design, testing, and manufacturing, and a track record of launching new fuel programs. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Nuclear Fuels at First American Nuclear, where he oversaw the design and supply of fuel for the company's lead-bismuth-cooled fast reactor. He built and led its design team and launched new front-end and back-end fuel cycle projects to support advanced reactors. Before that, he was Project Director for U.S. Nuclear at AtkinsRéalis, leading the firm's work as technical advisor to Energy Northwest, X-energy, and Amazon on their new reactor project in Richland, Washington. At GE's Global Nuclear Fuels, he led the team designing fuel for next-generation reactors.
At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Jensen led multidisciplinary teams on fuel cycle and advanced energy system projects. He was part of the team that received the 2018 U.S. Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for a full-scale, 8,500-mile multimodal transportation demonstration. He also held fuel analysis roles at Framatome and began his career at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site. Jensen earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Merced, and an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State University.