Confirmed Speakers

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Speakers are listed in alphabetical order within each session.

Day 1 : October 15, 2007: Ensuring political and institutional legitimacy

Welcome address and introductory remarks

Moritz Leuenberger, Federal Minister, Head of the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), Switzerland

 

CV on the DETEC website

 

Statement on behalf on the co-sponsors

Luis Echávarri, Director-General, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA)

Luis Echavarri

Mr. Luis Echávarri was appointed Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1997, a position he holds at the present time.

Mr. Echávarri, who is of Spanish nationality, was born in 1949 in Bilbao, Spain. Mr. Echávarri obtained Masters Degrees from the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineering of Bilbao University and from the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutensis University of Madrid. He obtained a post-graduate degree in Management from the Industrial Organization School of Madrid, and is a Fellow of the College of Industrial Engineers of Madrid.

Mr. Echávarri began his career as an engineer in Bilbao and in 1975 joined Westinghouse Electric in Madrid. He went on to become Project Manager of the Lemoniz, Sayago and Almaraz nuclear power plants, for Westinghouse, in Spain. In 1985 Mr. Echávarri became Technical Director of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN). He was named Commissioner of the CSN in 1987, a position which requires the approval of the Spanish Parliament.

In July 1995, Mr. Echávarri became Director-General of the Spanish Nuclear Industry Forum, a post held until July 1997.

Mr. Echávarri has represented the OECD/NEA at the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) since 1997. He became a member of the IAEA's INSAG in 2003.

 

 

Session 1: Keynote addresses on Strategic and policy developments

INTRODUCTION
Walter Steinmann, Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy

Walter Steinmann studied economics at the University of Zürich and obtained his degree in 1976. He then went on to pursue post-graduate studies on the interdependence of state and economy at the University of Konstanz, receiving a doctorate in social sciences in 1988.

Between 1976 and 1981, Walter Steinmann held various academic positions, for the last three years as an assistant at the Institute for Local, Regional and National Planning at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 1981, he became the delegate for economic development for the Canton of Basel-Land, then held a similar position in Canton Solothurn from 1988 to 1994. In 1994, he became head of the Office for Economics and Employment of Canton Solothurn, a position he held until 2001.

Since July 2001, Walter Steinmann has been Director of the Federal Office of Energy in Bern.

 

 

Claude Birraux, Member of the French National Assembly, First Deputy-Chairman of the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment, France

Mr Claude Birraux has been elected to the French National Assembly since 1978 as a representative to the Haute-Savoie, near the border of Switzerland. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment and has held this office since 1998, except from 2002 to 2004 when he was Chairman. He recently joined the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly, after having previously been a member of the Commission of Economics Affairs.

Mr Birraux holds a PhD in the Physics of Chemistry, and was from 1977 to 1978 an associate Professor at the University of Geneva.

Since 1990, Mr Birraux has been actively involved in French nuclear policy, particularly in the fields of nuclear safety and waste management. As a member of the Parliamentary Office, he spearheaded fifteen reports on different related subjects such as : the nuclear safety regulatory system (1990), nuclear fuel and waste transportation system (1994), monitoring of radionucleide discharge into the environment (1994), low-level nuclear waste and radioprotection (1996), assessment of the European pressurized reactor (EPR) technology (1998), flooding risks at French nuclear plants (2000), converting military plutonium to civilian use (2002), nuclear power plant lifetime (2003), progress and prospects of research into radioactive waste management (2005).

He was rapporteur, under the auspices of the Commission of Economics Affairs of the National Assembly, for the law of 28 June 2006 concerning the organization of sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste in France. From this position, he played a key role in designing French strategy in this field. This includes, among other solutions, a scientific and thoroughly-studied choice of a deep underground site for safe, geological disposal.

 

 

Torsten Carlsson, Chairman of the Swedish Council for Nuclear Waste (KASAM), Sweden

Torsten Carlsson was appointed in July 2007 Chair of the Swedish Council for Nuclear Waste.

Mr. Carlsson is a former commissioner and chaired the Oskarshamn Municipality Executive Board until 2004.

 

 

Luis Echávarri, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) - See above

 

 

Kenji Ogiwara, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan

Mr. Ogiwara was born in 1969 in the Gumma Prefecture. In 1992 he graduated from Waseda University. In 2004, he was elected as a Member of the House of Councillors (HC) and in 2005, became a member of the Committee on Education, Culture and Science, HC. In 2006, he occupied the post of Director, Research Committee on Aged Society with Declining Birthrate, HC, and was Acting Chairman of the Committee on Organization Involved with Education, Culture and Sports of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In 2007 he became Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, both in the Abe Reshuffled Cabinet and in the Fukuda Cabinet.
.
Mr. Ogiwara was Gold Medalist (Nordic Combined Team) at the XVI and XVII Olympic Winter Games. In 2001 he won the International Fair Play Prize.

 

 

Greg Schulte, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the United States to International organisations in Vienna

Ambassador Greg Schulte serves as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Office in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and other international organizations in Vienna. Having arrived on July 13, 2005, Ambassador Schulte is charged with advancing the President's agenda in countering proliferation, terrorism, organized crime, and corruption, while promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Appointed by President Bush in January 2003, Mr. Schulte served as Executive Secretary of the National Security Council through March 2005. He was responsible to Dr. Condoleezza Rice for overseeing the NSC staff, the national security decision-making process, and the White House Situation Room.



 

 

Zoran Stančič, Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for Research, European Commission

Dr. Zoran Stančič is Deputy Director General in the European Commission. Trained as an engineer he worked as a research assistant in University of Ljubljana. Since 1994 he was Head of the Spatial Information Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences. From 1990 till 2000 he was a research fellow or visiting professor at the University of Arkansas, the Delft University of Technology, the University of Reading, the Boston University, the University of Trieste and the University of Paris 1. Zoran Stančič has published seven scientific books and a number of scientific papers on quantitative methods in archaeology and remote sensing. In 1999 - 2000 he was Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. From the year 2000 to 2004 he was Slovenian State Secretary for Science.



 

 

Tomihiro Taniguchi, Deputy Director General, Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Mr. Taniguchi graduated from the University of Tokyo with a major in nuclear engineering in 1968 and joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1968. During his thirty year career there, he contributed to establishment and development of regulatory regime to enhance the efficiency and the safety of nuclear energy utilization. As Deputy Director General in charge of nuclear policy, he was the Japanese Government's chief administrative officer on all aspects of commercial use of nuclear energy, including safety and regulation.

Mr. Taniguchi's career at MITI included 12 years overseas working in international organizations and research institutions, including senior-level management and advanced research activities in the areas of energy, technology, and industry.

Prior to his appointment to Deputy Director General for Nuclear Safety at the IAEA in August 2001, Mr. Taniguchi was the Executive Director of the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC), supporting MITI and the nuclear industry in the areas of safety and technology.

Mr. Taniguchi was also a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering of the University of Tokyo from 1998 to 2001 and served as the Vice-Chair of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

 

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Session 2: Panel-led discussion on strategic and policy experience

PANEL CHAIR
Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Special Advisor to the Board of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). Canada

In October 2002, Ms. Dowdeswell was appointed President of Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). NWMO's initial purpose was to conduct a study and develop a recommendation for the Government of Canada on the long term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel. Having completed that assignment, Ms. Dowdeswell continues as Special Advisor to the Board of NWMO.
Ms. Dowdeswell served as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program and Undersecretary General of the United Nations, Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment Canada. Her early career included terms as Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth for the Province of Saskatchewan, educational consultant, university lecturer and high-school teacher.

 

 

Volker Giraud, Head of the Section "Disposal and Decommissioning", Ministry of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Mr. Giraud has a background in physical chemistry. In his carrier, he occupied various leading positions first in the field of Environmental Chemistry, then in the field of Environmental Radioactivity and Radioaction Protection. At the Ministry of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Mr. Giraud first headed the Section "Environmental Radioactivity, Radiation Protection" and in 2003 moved on to the Section "Disposal and Decommissioning".

 

 

Ute Blohm Hieber, Head of the Unit for Nuclear energy, Waste management and Transport, Directorate General for Energy and Transport (DG TREN), European Commission

Mrs Ute Blohm-Hieber is the head of unit for nuclear energy, waste management and transport in the DG TREN (Transport & Energy) of the European Commission.

Part of the mission of her unit is to define Community policy in the area of waste management & decommissioning and to manage the decommissioning support funds for countries with early closure commitments in the accession Treaty.

Before, she worked over many years in the nuclear Safeguards Directorate, first responsible for analytical techniques and as project leader for the 2 on-site laboratories in Sellafield and La Hague, later for the implementation of the Additional Protocol in the European Member States.

From her education she is a physicist with a Ph.D in theoretical nuclear physics.

 

 

Hannes Germann, Member of the Swiss Council of States

Hannes Germann has been a Member (Swiss People's Party/SVP) of the Swiss Council of States for Canton Schaffhausen since 2002. He studied marketing at the Research Institute for Sales and Commerce at the University of St. Gallen and completed his Batchelor of Business Administration in intellectual property rights/European business law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zürich. He also obtained a diploma in Business Management from the University of Zürich and has attended several training and further education courses for executives, mainly in the banking field.

From 1993 to 1996, he held positions in the field of education, including president of the commission responsible for school leaving examinations in Canton Schaffhausen. He was then a member of the Cantonal Council from 1997 to 2000. As a member of the Council of States, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly, he belongs to four legislative commissions on commerce, legal affairs, science, education and culture, and foreign policy. He is also a member of the delegation to the EU Parliament/EFTA and of the editorial commission of the two Chambers. He is represented on the board of several organisations, including the Swiss association of house owners and the Swiss association of local councils.

In his own political party (SVP), he holds several key positions, including member of the Executive Committee in Bern and member of the Party Central Committee.

 

 

Kris Van Dijk, Member of the Flemish Parliament and Mayor of Dessel, Belgium

Born in 1963, Kris van Dijk works as a teacher. He has been active in the political field since 1989. He has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 1995 and a member of the Commission of Education, the Commission of Internal Affairs and the Commission of Sports and Media.

He was mayor of Dessel between 1995 and 2000, member of the town council between 2001-2006 and again mayor from 2007 onwards.

He was mayor of Dessel when the town council decided to start the partnership Stola to discuss whether the Belgian low level nuclear waste could be disposed of in the municipality of Dessel (1999) and is responsible for the implementation of the project.





 

 

Cyrille Vincent, Head of the Sub-Directorate for Nuclear Industry, Directorate-General for Energy and Raw Materials, Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, France

In 2000, Cyrille Vincent obtained a degree in engineering from the School of Mines in Paris. He followed this with training in aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle at the National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (2003) and, in 2005, was auditor of the 19th economic and strategic analysis cycle at the Institute of Higher National Defence Studies.

Following a year in the USA as an engineer with a company responsible for elimination of hazardous materials, he returned to France to take up the position of official representative of the Prefect of the Alsace region for economic development, a position he held from 2000 to 2003. During this time, he was also head of the division for industrial development with the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment of the Alsace.

Between 2003 and 2006, he was a member of the financial committee of ANDRA and head of the public policy and supervision bureau of the sub-directorate for the nuclear industry of the General Directorate for Energy and Raw Materials.

Since 2006, he has held the positions of Member of the Board of the CEA, the French Atomic Energy Commission, Member of the Board of the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) and head of the sub-directorate for the nuclear industry of the General Directorate for Energy and Raw Materials.

 

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Day 2 : October 16, 2007: Ensuring protection, creating trust and bringing national projects forward      

Session 3: Societal aspects

SESSION CHAIR
Claude Birraux, Member ofParliament, First Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment, France

 

See above

 

   
Michael Aebersold, Head, Disposal of Radioactive Waste Section, Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE)

As Head of the Section for Disposal of Radioactive Waste of the Federal Office of Energy, Dr. Michael Aebersold is responsible for licensing procedures and liaison with national and international regulatory authorities and organizations, as well as for media work. He is also project manager of the sectoral plan procedure for repository site selection. Dr. Aebersold is also responsible for supervising and coordinating cost estimates and financial proposals in connection with the decommissioning and waste management funds.


He is a member of several related committees in Switzerland and of the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC).

 

 

Carl-Reinhold Bråkenhielm, University of Uppsala and KASAM, Sweden

 

Mr. Brakenhielm is professor in Studies of Worldviews at Uppsalauniversity, Sweden. He is also deputy chairman of the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste (KASAM).

 

 

Kaj Nilsson, Project Manager, Competence building on nuclear waste issues in Oskarshamn municipality (LKO), Sweden

Kaj Nilsson is project manager for a local project called Local Competence Buildning in Oskarshamn.
Oskarshamn is one of two Swedish municipalities where site investigations are conducted by SKB as possible sites for a final repository for spent nuclear fuel. The municipality has been an active part in the process since 1994 when Oskarshamn was pointed out as a suitable site for an encapsulation plant. A project organisation LKO - Local Competence Building was set up 1994 and it is financed by the Swedish nuclear fund.

 

 

Kathryn Shaver, Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Corporate Secretary, Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Canada

Ms. Shaver joined the Nuclear Waste Management Organization in Canada upon its establishment in 2002. As Executive Director she co-ordinated the organization's design and delivery of a three-year national dialogue and public engagement program that accompanied NWMO's assessment of approaches for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel. In her present capacity Ms. Shaver manages engagement, communications and social sciences research at NWMO. She has extensive prior energy and environment experience in both government and industry.

 

 

 

Jacob Spangenberg, Mayor of Östhammar, Sweden

Jacob Spangenberg graduated in agricultural economics from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 1978. He went on to work in the field of agricultural and rural business development, both in Sweden - for the Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies of Sweden - and abroad in Uganda and Zambia. From 2004 to 2006, he was Senior Consultant for Rural Business Development in Sweden. In 2007, he was elected Mayor and Chairman of the Board of Östhammar Municipality.

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Session 4: Implementation aspects

SESSION CHAIR
Luis E. Echávarri, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency - See above

 

 

 

Marie-Claude Dupuis, CEO, National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA), France


Marie-Claude Dupuis, 44 years old, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs - Andra) by a degree of the President of the French Republic, as published in the Journal officiel of 31 August 2005.

Ms Dupuis, who is a general mining engineer, is a former student of the Polytechnic School and of the Paris Mining Engineering School.

Early in her career, she became very deeply involved in various matters relating to the environment, to security and to quality.

She started her professional activity in 1988 at the Regional Directorate for Industry and Research (Central Region) as officer in charge of controlling nuclear facilities.

After six years at the General Directorate of Industrial Strategies within the Ministry of Industry, where she was Head of the Section for the Safety and Quality of Industrial Products, she joined the Pollution and Risk Prevention Division of the Ministry of the Environment, in 1998.

Until 2005, she was Director of the Industrial Environment Service where she managed the control of industrial and agricultural facilities at the national level.

Mrs Marie-Claude Dupuis has been elected Chairperson of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee of the OECD/NEA during its 40th plenary session on 16 March, 2007.

 

 

Kenneth E. Nash, Chairman, International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials (EDRAM) and President, Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Canada

Ken Nash is a founding director of the NWMO and the immediate past-chair of the organization's Board of Directors. He has held a number of management positions at Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation in the areas of finance, engineering, and environmental management.
In his current capacity as Senior Vice President, Nuclear Waste Management Division at OPG, he is responsible for all aspects of nuclear waste management. This includes licensing, environmental approvals, operations and OPG's research and development program for the long-term management of used fuel currently established in several Canadian universities and in collaboration with international partners. He is also responsible for ensuring sufficient funds are set aside for the long-term management of OPG's nuclear waste liabilities. Ken Nash is also responsible for lifecycle planning and development for long-term waste management including power plant decommissioning.

Ken Nash is the current chairman of EDRAM, the International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials.

 

 

Edward F. Sproat, Director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), USA

Edward F. Sproat, III, was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 26, 2006, as the Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. The Office is responsible for developing the Nation's waste disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, as mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

Prior to Mr. Sproat's appointment he was the managing partner of McNeill, Sproat & Associates (MS&A) LLC in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. MS&A provided organizational and technology development solutions to growing energy firms.

Mr. Sproat previously held the position of Vice President of International Projects for Exelon Generation, responsible for developing and managing Exelon's interests in various international generation ventures in the Republic of South Africa; and he held various management positions with Exelon's predecessor PECO Energy over the last 25 years.

 

 

Claes Thegerström, President of the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB)

Claes Thegerström is President of Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SKB, a company established by the Swedish nuclear utilities as a joint company for all matters related to spent fuel and nuclear waste management, including research, technical development and industrial implementation.

Claes Thegerström has worked with matters related to nuclear energy since the mid 70', both in Sweden and internationally, and is a member of CNE, the French National Scientific Evaluation Committee.

 

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Session 5: Regulatory aspects

SESSION CHAIR
Ulrich Schmocker, Director of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (HSK)

Dr. Schmocker has been the director of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate HSK since 2002.
He joined HSK in 1981, where, from 1990, he held in turn the positions of head of the sections for Reactor,
Fuel and Systems Engineering, Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) and Accident Management, before becoming the head of the division for Reactor Safety in
1996.
Between 1976 and 1979, Dr. Schmocker conducted leading research and development projects at the PROTEUS research reactor and at the waste disposal facility of the Swiss Federal Reactor Research Institute (today's Paul Scherrer Institute), where he specialized in propagation analysis for radioactive particles in the geosphere.
Dr. Schmocker holds a bachelor's degree in experimental physics from the university of Zürich, as well as a PhD in experimental physics from the university of Würzburg in Germany.

 

 

 

Dale Klein, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), USA

Dr. Klein became Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July 2006. He is the principal executive officer of, and the official spokesman for, the NRC, responsible for conducting the administrative, organizational, long-range planning, budgetary and certain personnel functions of the agency. The Chairman has ultimate authority for all NRC functions pertaining to an emergency involving an NRC licensee.

Before his appointment at NRC, Dr. Klein was the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. Dr. Klein also served as the Vice-Chancellor for Special Engineering Programs at the University of Texas and as a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Nuclear Program) at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

 

Jukka Laaksonen, Director General of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Finland

Jukka Laaksonen (born 1948) has been Director General of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) of Finland since 1997. He obtained his MSc in Engineering from Helsinki Technical University in 1972. After two years of nuclear research in the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), he joined STUK in 1974, where he held various posts before appointment as Director General. He served as a visiting expert at US NRC from 1981-82 and as senior officer at IAEA from 1987-89.
Mr. Laaksonen has actively participated in international co-operation in the area of nuclear safety and safeguards since the 1970s and has held several chairmanships in international organizations, among them OECD/NEA Committee for Nuclear Regulatory Activities (1998-2007) and the EC group coordinating the EU's programme of Nuclear Regulatory Assistance to Eastern Europe (2001-2003). He has also conducted several IAEA safety missions, chaired numerous international meetings and task groups. Currently he is Vice Chairman of INSAG (International Safety Group, invited by the IAEA Director General).

 

 

André-Claude Lacoste, Chairman of the Board, Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), France

Born in 1941, André-Claude Lacoste graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1960 and Ecole des Mines engineering school of Paris in 1963. He began his career in the Nord Pas-de-Calais region at the regional offices of the Ministry for Industry. From 1978 to 1990, André-Claude Lacoste was appointed to the central administration of the Ministry for Industry, where he managed and ran the regional departments in charge of inspecting industrial facilities.

From 1990 to 1993, he was Deputy Director General for Industry, then, from 1993 to 2002, Head of the Nuclear Installation Safety Directorate (DSIN) under the authority of the Minister for Industry and the Minister for the Environment.

In February 2002, his sphere of action was extended to radiation protection. André-Claude Lacoste was appointed Head of the General Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (DGSNR). The law no. 2006-686 of 13 June 2006 on transparency and security in the nuclear field granted the ASN the status of an independent administrative authority, henceforth independent from the Ministers.
On 9 November 2006, the President of the Republic appointed André-Claude Lacoste, for a period of six years, as chairman of the Board of five commissioners heading this authority.

André-Claude Lacoste is a founding member and former chairman of WENRA (Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association), a coordinating forum for the heads of the 17 nuclear regulatory authorities in Western European countries. He is also a founding member and former chairman of INRA (International Nuclear Regulators' Association). He is chairman of the Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), which oversees the development of nuclear safety standards for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

André-Claude Lacoste is an Officer in the Legion of Honour and a Commander in the Order of Merit.

 

 

József Rónaky, Director-General of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA)

József Rónaky has been Director General of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority since 1999. Previous positions include Head of the Nuclear Emergency Preparedness organisation of the Paks NPP (1993-1999), Chief nuclear engineer of the NPP responsible for nuclear and radiation safety and fuel management (1989-1993), Head of Dosimetry Service of the Paks NPP (1981-1989), Health Physicist at the Paks NPP (1979-1981), Head of the Laser Development Section at the Hungarian Optical Works (MOM) (1976-1979).

József Rónaky graduated from the Loránd Eötvös University of Budapest as a physicist in 1970 and received a PhD in natural sciences in 1973.

He is member of the International Nuclear Safety Group of the IAEA and the vice chair of the NEA Steering Committee.

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Session 6: Panel-led discussion

PANEL CHAIR
Hans Forsström, Director of the Division Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Hans Forsström is Director of the Division Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology within the Department of Nuclear Energy at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He joined the IAEA in April 2005.

He has a Master of Science degree in Applied Physics from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.

He started his career as a reactor physicist in 1972 for the Ringhals 1 BWR. He then turned to the field of radioactive waste management. In 1979 he joined SKB, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company where he has held several different positions within research and development for waste management and disposal. During his last few years at SKB he was Technical Director with responsibility for the central Swedish Waste Management Systems and Facilities.

From 1998 to April 2005 Hans Forsström worked in the European Commission as Head of Unit for Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection in DG Research, where he was responsible for the implementation of the Euratom Framework programme for research and training activities on nuclear fission and radiation protection.

 

 

Carl-Reinhold Bråkenhielm, University of Uppsala and KASAM, Sweden

 

(in preparation)

 

 

Hans Issler, Chairman of the Board of Directors, National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAGRA), Switzerland

Hans Issler (64) is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nagra, the Swiss National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste.

He studied natural science at the University of Zürich, graduating in nuclear physics. He then completed post-diploma studies in industrial engineering science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where he worked for seven years as a consultant. In 1977, he became Managing Director of Nagra, a position which he held until May 2007.

Between 2003 to 2005, he acted as Chairman of EDRAM, an association of radioactive waste management organisations from 11 OECD countries. For 16 years, he held the part-time position of Mayor of the community where he resides.

 

 

Jukka Laaksonen, Director General of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Finland - See above

 

 

 

Jean-Paul Minon, General Manager of the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials ONDRAF/NIRAS

Jean-Paul Minon was appointed general manager of ONDRAF/NIRAS in June 2006.
He was successively inspecting engineer for the Energy Administration of the Ministerial Department of Economic Affairs (1978), consulting engineer on district heating (1979), nuclear power plant inspector of Vinçotte (controlling organisation for the Belgian NPPs) from 1980 to 1989, head of the Health, Safety and Environmental Department, industrial and nuclear safety, at Belgoprocess, the subsidiary company of ONDRAF/NIRAS (1990-1993), deputy general manager of ONDRAF/NIRAS (Belgian radioactive waste management agency) from 1993 to 2003 and has been acting general manager of ONDRAF/NIRAS since 2003.

He has been a lecturer at the Faculté Polytechnique de Mons since 1982.

 

 

Kathy Riklin, Member of the Swiss National Council

Born in Zurich in 1952, Kathy Riklin's background is in geology. She obtained a doctorate in natural sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and then moved into the field of education as a grammar school teacher.

The world of politics then beckoned. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), Kathy Riklin became a member of the National Council for the Canton of Zurich in 1999, a position she continues to hold today. She was also a member of the municipal council for the City of Zurich from 1982 to 2001. Her current parliamentary mandates include president of the commission for science, education and culture, membership of the commission for foreign affairs and membership of the EFTA delegation to the European Parliament.

Kathy Riklin also holds positions in a wide range of educational, scientific and political bodies. In addition to involvement in groups looking at climate change, geothermal energy and environmental conservation, she is currently President of Forum VERA, an organisation promoting the technically safe and socially acceptable management of radioactive waste in Switzerland.

 

 

Manfred Thuman, Executive Vice President and Member of the Executive Board of Axpo Holding AG, Switzerland

Manfred Thumann received his further education in Germany. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University in Munich and then went on to become a research assistant in the Department of Materials Science at the University of Ruhr Basin in Bochum, finally obtaining a Ph.D. in Engineering/Materials Science.

He began his working career as a project scientist with a German aerospace establishment (DLR) in Cologne. He then moved to Switzerland to work at ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd. (formerly ABB) in Baden. He held various positions in the company, mainly in the area of gas turbine technology, finally becoming Department Head of Materials Technology for ABB Corporate Research. Since December 2003, he has worked for NOK Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG in Baden, where he holds the positions of Executive Vice President and Member of the Executive Board of Axpo Holding AG.

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Summary of the conference

Werner Bühlmann, Vice-Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy

Dr. Werner Bühlmann received his law degree from the University of Zurich in 1971. In 1973, he was granted a practising certificate for the Canton of Zurich and, in 1975, went on to obtain a doctorate in law, also from the University of Zurich.

His apprenticeship leading to the granting of his practising certificate was spent with the District Court of Bülach, after which, from 1973 to 1974, he acted as clerk of court for the Supreme Court of Canton Schaffhausen. In 1975, he joined a retail company as a legal adviser, a position he held for two years. Between 1978 and 1979, he was Vice-Director and legal adviser for a trust company.

Werner Bühlmann joined the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (FOE) in 1980, where he was Head of Legal Services until the year 2000. Since then he has held the position of Head of the Legal Services and Safety Division and Member of the Board of Management. Since 2005, he has also been a Vice-Director of the FOE.

 

 

Claes Thegerström, President of the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) - See above

 

 

 

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This page was last updated on Dezember 13, 2007