PhillyInc

Courtesy American Executive

Krishna "Kris" Singh, founder and CEO of privately held Holtec International Inc., a nuclear-fuel technology and storage company based in Marlton, has snagged a major piece of a long-sought contract to build a new "shelter" over the old Chernobyl reactor and other protective measures at the Ukrainian site of the world's worst nuclear accident. (See AP story here). The existing protective "sarcophagus" over the reactor is crumbling. Donor nations so far have committed about half of the estimated $1.2 billion to replace it.

According to a recent glowing piece by the American Executive magazine, Singh's contract just for one phase of the work could be worth as much as $152 million, using Holtec's own underground Vertical Ventilated Module (VVM) technology. Singh actually had offered to invest $150 million of its own money into the project, although it's unclear whether his offer was accepted in the agreement signed on August 3. Coincidentally (it seems) on the same day, Singh's alma mater, the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, announced that he had given it $20 million - it's largest gift ever. Talk about giving back. And talk about patience. Here's one of his lines from the magazine piece:

“We can make money here based on ideas that are not immediately gratifying. ... I call these ideas seed corn. If you don’t plant seeds today, you won’t have a crop tomorrow. Chernobyl is a great example. If we hadn’t developed the technology to dehydrate fuel seven years ago, we wouldn’t have the Chernobyl contract today.”

- Thomas Ginsberg