Ones to One: Olivia Hand

Olivia Hand has spent her entire career in nuclear energy, and today she’s working on one of the field’s most closely watched projects: the TerraPower Natrium reactor. The 345-megawatt sodium fast reactor, paired with a molten salt-based energy storage system, is designed to offer a stable, flexible, and emissions-free power source—an approach seen as increasingly important in the push toward decarbonization.

“My specific piece of the puzzle is the intermediate heat exchanger,” which is the component that transfers thermal energy from the sodium coolant heated by the reactor core to a sodium intermediate loop, Hand explained. “I act as the oversight for the component design, analysis, and soon the fabrication and delivery of the component.” Working closely with an external supplier to define technical requirements and review its analysis work, Hand provides the big picture requirements of what the component needs to perform its function for the Natrium design.

Her passion for engineering began with AP chemistry and was reinforced by her father’s career as a Navy engineer. After college, she joined Naval Reactors, contributing to the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier reactor plant design—which now serves an active role in national security as part of the U.S. Navy fleet. Although she left the project before its first deployment, “it was cool to see it happen from afar.”

To read more about Olivia Hand and her work, read her full profile in the Watch List 2025.