Experienced project leader from Fluor, Tata Steel and Aramis joins Thorizon as it prepares to build its first nuclear demonstrator
Amsterdam, 12 November 2026 – Thorizon, the Franco-Dutch developer of molten salt reactors, has appointed Annemarie Manger as Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective 1 February 2027. Manger brings 35 years of experience in delivering large industrial projects. She joins as Thorizon prepares to build PIONEER, its nuclear demonstrator planned at NRG PALLAS in Petten, with construction targeted for 2028.
A track record in large, first-of-a-kind projects
A chemical engineer by training, Manger has led industrial investments totalling more than €1 billion. At Fluor, she rose from process engineer to project director of refinery, LNG and offshore projects in Europe and Asia. At Tata Steel, she led capital projects, engineering and maintenance at the IJmuiden and Port Talbot steelworks, with teams totaling more than 2,000 people. As Director of Sustainability at Tata Steel Nederland, she then led the company’s decarbonisation strategy, including the plan to move IJmuiden to hydrogen-based steelmaking. Since 2023, she has led Aramis, the first-of-a-kind CO₂ storage project of EBN, Gasunie, Shell and TotalEnergies. She is a supervisory board member at Heijmans and Oceanco and a board member of GroenvermogenNL.
As COO, Manger will lead the teams in Amsterdam and Lyon that take Thorizon’s reactor from design to construction: the PILOT programme, which builds and tests prototypes of the molten salt pump, the heat exchanger and a full-scale cartridge, the PIONEER demonstrator and Thorizon One. Her first priorities are the realisation of PIONEER, the commissioning of the non-nuclear PILOT test facilities and the fuel supply chain with Orano and Urenco.
Kiki Lauwers, CEO of Thorizon: “We are proud to welcome Annemarie to Thorizon. Together with our team and our European partners, we are working to build Europe’s first molten salt reactor, and speed of execution is essential. Annemarie brings exactly what we need: experience in delivering first-of-a-kind projects, drive and the ability to bring partners together. She strengthens our team as we move from development to construction.”
Annemarie Manger, COO of Thorizon: “I look forward to joining Thorizon as Chief Operating Officer on 1 February. Working with an inspiring and diverse team in Amsterdam and Lyon, I want to contribute where technological innovation meets disciplined project delivery. Together, we are working towards Thorizon’s mission: delivering the next generation of sustainable nuclear energy.”
From development to construction
PIONEER is Thorizon’s nuclear demonstrator: a smaller, non-commercial version of the Thorizon reactor that will validate the reactor core without producing electricity. With PIONEER, Thorizon aims to show that it can design, license, build and operate a molten salt installation, and to prepare its supply chain for the commercial reactor. Thorizon targets the start of construction in 2028 and operation in 2030. On that timetable, PIONEER would be the first nuclear molten salt installation to operate in Europe.
Thorizon One, the company’s first commercial reactor, is planned in Zeeland. It is designed to supply either 100 MWe of electricity or industrial heat at 550°C directly to industry and data centres. Thorizon targets grid connection in 2034. The Dutch government’s roadmap towards 7 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050 names Thorizon, and the national budget earmarks €200 million in IPCEI innovation funding for that goal. The European Commission has prioritised Thorizon One as one of eight projects in the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs.
Backed by leaders in Europe’s nuclear and industrial sectors
Thorizon works with experienced Dutch nuclear operators on both projects. PIONEER is planned at NRG PALLAS in Petten, from which Thorizon originated as a spin-off. NRG PALLAS operates the High Flux Reactor there, a unique research facility and one of the few reactors in the world that produce medical isotopes on a large scale, and is building the new PALLAS reactor on the same site. For Thorizon One, Thorizon works in Zeeland with EPZ, which has operated the Borssele nuclear power plant for more than 50 years.
Thorizon develops and tests reactor components with VDL Groep, the Dutch industrial group and a key supplier to ASML. Thorizon, VDL Groep and DEMCON are building the molten salt test facility at High Tech Campus Eindhoven, launched by European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra in June 2026.
For fuel, Thorizon works with two leading European fuel cycle companies: with Orano, the French group active across the nuclear fuel cycle, on fuel development, and with Urenco, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2026, on the potential future supply of enriched uranium.
About Thorizon
Thorizon, originally a spin-off from NRG, is an ambitious deep-tech scale-up with offices in Amsterdam and Lyon. The company develops small modular molten salt reactors designed to deliver clean, reliable energy at competitive cost. Its walk-away safe reactor operates at low pressure and uses long-lived nuclear waste as fuel, a step toward true circularity in nuclear energy. Thorizon collaborates with industry leaders such as Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Orano, VDL Groep, Tractebel, EPZ and NRG PALLAS. Its project has been selected by the European Commission and the French government under the France 2030 investment plan, and is recognized as a flagship project for Dutch competitiveness in the Wennink report. www.thorizon.com
Image 1: Annemarie Manger, Chief Operating Officer of Thorizon
Note to editors, not for publication
For more information about this press release, the parties involved and the underlying developments, please contact Coco Polderman at info@thorizon.com or +31 (0)6 2139 0708.
Thorizon is funded by the European Commission, the Dutch Government, the Provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zeeland, and the French State under the France 2030 plan.
