WANO announces winners of the 2024 Nuclear Excellence Awards and the 1st WANO Young Generation Rising Star Awards
The WANO Nuclear Excellence Award (NEA) was established to recognise individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to excellence.
Nuclear expertise and invaluable contribution from our members are fundamental in realising WANO’s mission to maximise safety and reliability of nuclear power plants worldwide. To recognise individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the industry, the five awards were presented during the 2024 Nuclear Excellence Awards ceremony to industry professionals celebrating their dedication.
This year’s Award ceremony was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 30 September 2024 as part of the WANO Biennial General Meeting. Honouring the WANO mission of maximising the safety and reliability through thought leadership, highest professionalism, exceptional performance and improvement, industry collaboration and more, the five winners are:
- Elvire Charre, Director of Bugey Nuclear Power Plant, Électricité de France
- Kostas M Dovas, Vice President of Training, Constellation Energy
- GAO Ligang, President & CEO, China General Nuclear Power Corporation
- Andrey Alexandrovitch Salnikov, Deputy Director General & Director of Rostov Nuclear Plant, Rosenergoatom JSC
- Hiromi Yamazaki, Former President & CEO, Japan Nuclear Safety Institute
(Winners are arranged in alphabetical order based on the surnames.)
“Hard work and dedication should be recognised and commemorated. On behalf of WANO and our members, a heartfelt congratulations to all the industry professionals in winning the Award,” stated Tom Mitchell, WANO Chairperson. “Not only does each recipient demonstrated outstanding leadership in driving excellence in the operation of nuclear power plants, but their commitment in striving for improvement are shining exemplars for the industry.”
The WANO Nuclear Excellence Award (NEA) was established to recognise individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to excellence in the operation of nuclear power plants, or to the infrastructure that supports the nuclear power enterprise, or through WANO. More details regarding the Award and previous winners can be found HERE.
Furthermore, the Lord Marshall Award was presented to Tom Mitchell for his dedication and leadership to the organisation. The Award is a recognition to individuals who have made significant contribution to the work of WANO. Tom’s leadership has been instrumental to WANO in realising its mission, and in driving the industry forwards in maximising the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants worldwide.
In addition to recognising the contribution of seasoned industry professionals, the 1st WANO Young Generation Rising Star Award was presented during the same occasion to four talented individuals to celebrate their active involvement as future leaders for a safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants, through networking, professional development, and knowledge transfer within the WANO membership.
The Awardees include:
- Muna Al Suwaidi, Senior Program Engineer, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation
- Yang Ho CHOI, Operating Experience Senior Manager, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
- PAN Feng, Deputy Chief Engineer of Maintenance of Ningde Nuclear Power Plant, China General Nuclear Power Group
- ZHAO Wentao, WANO Moscow Centre On-site Representative, Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation
(Winners are arranged in alphabetical order based on the surnames.)
“With one of WANO’s Core Values being ‘innovation’, our young generation is key to ensuring creativity and driving passion to sustain the success of the nuclear community,” said Tom. “Congratulations to all our winners, I look forward to seeing the continued impact you will have on our industry throughout the course of your career. Keep innovating and collaborating to provide our industry with a sustainable future.”
The WANO Young Generation (YG) initiative provides a valuable platform for early career professionals within the nuclear industry to engage, innovate and connect with like-minded individuals to ignite their imagination and fulfil their curiosity in an evolving industry. Like HERE to find out more.
