HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 6, 2026--
Trailblazing nuclear industry leader and distinguished attorney Kym Harshaw has been named General Counsel of ZettaJoule Inc., an advanced small modular reactor company.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260206834963/en/
Harshaw brings both operational and legal expertise to ZettaJoule’s mission-critical work. She will lead ZettaJoule’s legal strategy and risk management for regulatory, corporate and commercial matters, advise the CEO and leadership team, and oversee governance, key contracts and partnerships. She is admitted to practice law in Texas, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
Harshaw recently served as Interim President and CEO of STP Nuclear Operating Company where she was also a member of the Board of Directors.
She was among the first women in the U.S. to successfully complete the ultra-rigorous process to obtain a Senior Reactor Operator license, authorizing her to make safety-critical decisions and lead control room operators at a commercial nuclear plant.
“Having been in the industry for so long, it’s an honor to help bring small modular reactors to the market, especially using tech based on an existing reactor,” Harshaw said. “This is something exciting.”
“We feel truly privileged to have Kym as part of the team,” ZettaJoule Co-Founder, President and CEO Mitsuo Shimofuji said. “Her extraordinary expertise will be crucial as we continue building a strong foundation for our rapidly expanding company.”
“Kym is a super star who is an amazing addition to our company,” ZettaJoule Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Harper said. “I can’t wait to see how she’ll transform our corporate governance and regulatory strategy.”
About ZettaJoule Inc.
ZettaJoule Inc. is developing advanced small modular reactors that will operate at temperatures up to 950°C, providing uninterrupted zero-carbon heat and power solutions for industrial and commercial customers in the U.S. and abroad. ZettaJoule and its affiliated companies have offices in Houston, Texas – the Energy Capital of the World – as well as the Washington, D.C. area, Tokyo and Mito, Japan. Visit www.Zetta-Joule.com
ZettaJoule General Counsel Kym Harshaw
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Nearly two weeks after an ice storm knocked out power to her home, Barbara Bishop still finds herself trying to flip the lights on and looking in her fridge for food that has since spoiled.
Bishop, 79, and her 85-year-old husband, George Bishop, live in a rural area near Oxford, Mississippi, where ice-coated trees snapped in half, bringing down power lines and making roads nearly impassable.
After the storm hit, the Bishops took in their son, granddaughter and two children, whose homes lost both power and water.
The family endured days of bitter cold with nothing but a gas heater to keep them warm. For a few days, they lost water.
“It’s just been one of those times you just have to grit, grit your teeth and bare it,” Bishop said.
Nearly 20,000 customers remained without power in northern Mississippi on Friday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. That is down from about 180,000 homes and businesses without power in Mississippi shortly after the storm struck late last month.
Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, had the most remaining outages of any county on Friday, with about 4,200 customers without power, followed by Tippah County with about 3,500. Panola, Yalobusha and Tishomingo counties all had more than 2,000 customers without power.
After days of bitter cold, temperatures in Oxford reached 70 degrees on Friday, but the chunks of ice still littered the ground in shaded areas.
Downed trees had been gathered into large piles on the sides of roads, some burned and still smoldering. While much of the worst damage had been cleared, in some places, power lines still hung low over roads and laid strewn about in parking lots. Everywhere, tree limbs dangled precariously.
Across the street from the Bishops, Russ Jones and his wife have no electricity or water. For days, they used five-gallon buckets filled with water to flush toilets, cooked on their gas stove and stayed warm by their fireplace.
“It’s been a shock to the system,” Jones said, adding that he and his wife began staying with friends who have power a few days ago.
On Friday, Jones’ yard was teaming with volunteers from Eight Days of Hope, a nonprofit that responds to natural disasters. The volunteers cleared snapped tree limbs and hauled away a large tree that had fallen in Jones’ backyard.
The organization arrived days after the storm and has helped dozens of homeowners clean up their yards and patch damaged roofs. It has also served more than 16,000 free meals.
Jones said it was a relief to know he had one less thing on his plate. When a volunteer handed him a free T-shirt and a blanket for his wife, he held back tears.
“It's just beyond anything I could ever imagine,” he said.
Russ Jones, whose home has not had power in 13 days, stands on his front porch on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 in Oxford, Ms. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Fallen tree limbs covered roadsides in Oxford, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 in Oxford, Ms. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Clint Oldfield, a volunteer with Eight Days of Hope, cuts down a tree limb on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 in Oxford, Ms. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
In some places bits of ice remained as temperatures reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 in Oxford, Ms. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Barbara Bishop, 79, left, and her husband George Bishop, 85, pose for a portrait on their front porch, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 in Oxford, Ms. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
