Zap positions itself as the first company unifying fission and fusion energy
EVERETT, Wash., April 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zap Energy today announced the appointment of Zabrina Johal as Chief Executive Officer, marking a defining step in the company’s evolution into an integrated nuclear platform spanning both fission and fusion. Cofounder Benj Conway will transition to President, focusing on strategy, partnerships, and long-term technology development.
Zabrina Johal, CEO of Zap Energy
The leadership transition comes as Zap formalizes a strategy developed over the past year to combine near-term fission deployment with the long-term breakthrough potential of fusion.
“Zap is entering its next phase—bringing fission and fusion together to accelerate innovation across the entire system, from core technologies to deployment,” said Zabrina Johal. “This alignment allows us to accelerate progress, reduce complexity, and deliver power on timelines that match demand.”
Expansion to an Integrated Nuclear Platform
Zap’s strategy is grounded in a simple observation: fission and fusion are not separate industries, but deeply connected disciplines that share materials, engineering challenges, supply chains, and system architectures. Rather than pursuing fusion in isolation, Zap is building an integrated platform designed to:
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Deliver near-term, bankable power through compact, modular fission systems
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Exploit deep technology overlap between fission and fusion, particularly in liquid metals, neutron environments, and high-power-density design, to speed progress across both
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Leverage AI advances, AI-driven demand, and regulatory momentum to accelerate nuclear deployment
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Build upgradeable nuclear assets that can evolve from fission to fusion over multi-decade lifetimes
“Fission and fusion are two expressions of the same underlying physics,” said Conway. “This isn’t a pivot—by integrating them into a single platform, we can move faster, reduce risk, and build a more enduring company.”
AI’s emergence also underlies the new strategy — catalyzing faster innovation in both fission and fusion while simultaneously heightening demand for stable baseload power generation.
Zap is initially targeting distributed, industrial, and data-intensive energy applications where modular systems can be deployed on accelerated timelines.
Leadership to Execute at Scale
Johal brings deep experience across nuclear technology, commercialization, and large-scale project delivery, with prior leadership roles at AtkinsRéalis and General Atomics. She also served as an officer in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power Program.
