James Varley

Group Managing Editor, Nuclear Engineering International

Biography

James Varley is Group Managing Editor, Global Trade Media. He is responsible for a group of international publications addressing power generation technology and transmission & distribution. These include Nuclear Engineering International (with which he has been associated for nearly 30 years), Modern Power Systems, and International Water Power and Dam Construction. His first degree was in physics (University of Sussex), followed by an MSc and postgraduate research (University of Manchester). He spent several years in the field of energy analysis before becoming involved in technical and trade publishing, working initially at IPC Science and Technology Press and then Reed Business Information, on power related publications and events. In 1996 he joined Wilmington Media, now Global Trade Media.

Steve Hornsby

Nuclear Industry Leader, IBM Global Business Services

Biography

Steve is responsible for the development and execution of technology solutions and services to the UK nuclear industry. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer with a first degree in Physics from Cambridge University. He has over 25 years experience assisting asset intensive businesses significantly improve their operational performance and business processes through transformational change programmes, business insight and exploitation of technology. His recent UK nuclear industry assignments include leading Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Asset Management Solution transformation programmes for British Energy and supporting the EDF Energy New Nuclear Build team. He has also consulted with current and potential nuclear organisations in China, Japan, Lithuania, Abu Dhabi, United States, Poland, France and Germany.

Ric Perez

Senior Vice President, Westinghouse

Biography

As Senior Vice President, Nuclear Power Plants, Ricardo Pérez is responsible for managing the global deployment of new power plants. Currently, the implementation of current contracts for projects in Korea, AP1000 units in China and the U.S., and the development of new plant builds internationally are areas of major focus. He assumed this position in September 2009.

Mr. Pérez holds a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Energy Resources from the University of Pittsburgh. He is an active member of the American Nuclear Society, the Spanish Nuclear Society, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Robert Davies

UK New Build Director, AREVA

Biography

He spent some 25 years in the Royal Navy, commanding three warships, followed by Budgetary and Planning appointments in the Ministry of Defence. He completed an MBA, and then joined Framatome ANP where he lead on Service, Dismantling and Waste Management in UK, followed by a period as UK Country Director for AREVA NP and now as Vice President for AREVA UK responsible for all new build business development activities.

Geoff Smith

Solutions Director, CSC

Biography

Geoff Smith is the Solutions Director in the CSC Civil Nuclear Account and drives the program of innovation across its nuclear sector. Working closely with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Geoff is supporting them to develop and implement a road map of industry capabilities to improve collaboration, knowledge share and information re-use. The Skills Passport is one of the first capabilities to be realised where the NDA, the National Skills Academy for Nuclear and CSC are working together to deliver a capability to capture training and identify skills shortages. Geoff is an engineering graduate and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School. He has worked with the nuclear industry for over 10 years and draws from his wider experience in working with other CSC's client's in the engineering, defence and chemical sectors.

Greg Evans

Head of Nuclear, Centrica

Biography

Greg’s nuclear career began in 1975 on US Nuclear Submarines, followed by operational experience as a shift supervisor on several American Nuclear Power Plants. He joined Nuclear Electric on the Sizewell B team in 1990 as Head of Work Planning and Control during commissioning and commercial operations. He spent time with corporate peer evaluations before returning to Reactor Operations at Sizewell B. He left British Energy in 1998 to join Magnox as a Shift Charge Engineer at Bradwell Power Station. In April, 2001 Greg joined Wylfa where he spent 3 years as Production Manager. After 1 year at Trawsfynydd as Site Manager Greg returned to Wylfa where he held the position of Site Director until September, last year.

Greg's personal passion is for leadership and developing young people. He is an active member of the Chartered Managers Institute (CMI) and in 2009 received the CMI Regional Chartered Manager of the year award for Wales. He was further recognised in 2009, as an outstanding leader who makes a difference to the future prosperity of Wales, when he received the Leading Wales Award for businesses with more than 250 employees.

In October, 2009 Greg took up his role as Head of Nuclear for Centrica leading the company into it’s first nuclear experience with joint venture partners EDF.

George Borovas

Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Biography

Mr. Borovas is a member of Pillsbury's Energy Group based in London and heads Pillsbury’s international nuclear projects team.

Mr. Borovas concentrates his practice on international nuclear energy projects, new nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel transactions. He is currently advising governments on the development of civilian nuclear power programs. He has worked in projects and transactions in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, Russia and South Africa. His clients include electric utilities, governments, nuclear power plant vendors and equipment suppliers, investment banks, universities, trading companies and other major companies involved in the energy industry. Before attending law school, Mr. Borovas was a chemical engineer for a power plant engineering firm.

Matthew Taylor

Policy Lead on Finance and Arrangements for Nuclear New Build Wa, Department for Energy and Climate Change

Biography

Matt Taylor has been a member of the Office for Nuclear Development since July 2007. He led the development of the nuclear waste financing sections in the Energy Act 2008 and the Funding Arrangement Plan section of the draft Funded Decommissioning Programme guidance before leading on the draft Nuclear NPS last year.

Jacques Bouchard

Special Advisor to the Chairman, French Atomic Energy Commission

Biography

Jacques Bouchard is Special Adviser to the Chairman of the CEA.

Born in 1939, Jacques Bouchard holds an engineering degree from the "Ecole Centrale de Paris", and specialized in reactor physics.

Mr. Bouchard joined the CEA in 1964 and became Head of the Experimental Physics unit in 1973, then Head of the Nuclear Engineering Department in 1975. In that capacity, the work he conducted was mainly in support of pressurized water reactor technology, and he also led studies in physics for fuel cycle applications.

In 1982, he became Head of the Fast Neutron Reactor Department in Cadarache. In 1990, he was appointed Head of the CEA's Nuclear Reactor Division, then, from 1994 to 2000, he served as Director of CEA’s military application division.

From 2000 to 2004, he was in charge of the entire nuclear energy sector in CEA.

Since 2005, he is Special Adviser to the Chairman of the CEA.

From 2006 to 2009, he served as Chairman of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).

Jacques Bouchard was also the President of the French Nuclear Energy Society from 2001 to 2003 and professor at the renown "Ecole des Mines de Paris". He has served on the board of directors of several companies working in the nuclear field, and he is member of many advisory committees to national and international nuclear organizations.

David Bonser

VP, ENS, Chair, NSAN, Chairman, Westinghouse UK

Biography

David Bonser was appointed as the first Chairman of Westinghouse UK in November 2008, following the establishment of Westinghouse’s integrated UK organisation. David came to Westinghouse following a varied 35-year career with BNFL.

His business management roles in BNFL, working at Risley, Capenhurst and Sellafield, encompassed many aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle. Following his appointment to the BNFL Board in 1999, David held executive responsibility for future strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resources.

His depth of knowledge and expertise in waste management issues was also recognised when David was appointed as a member of the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC), the Government’s Advisory Body on nuclear waste management issues, in 1998. David also served as Chairman of NIREX for a four year period up to December 2001.

He is recognised internationally as a senior figure within the nuclear industry and served as President of the European Nuclear Society in 2008 and 2009. He also chairs the Board of the UK’s National Skills Academy for Nuclear.

Charles Hendry

Minister of State, Department of Energy & Climate Change

Biography

Charles Hendry has been Member of Parliament for Wealden since 2001. Prior to joining the Government, he was Shadow Minister for Energy. He had previously held the position of Shadow Minister for Energy, Industry and Postal Affairs. Before this, Charles was the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party (2003-05), Shadow Minister for Young People (2002-05) and Shadow Minister for Industry and Enterprise (May – December 2005).

From 1992-97, Charles Hendry was Member of Parliament for High Peak, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party (1995-1997) and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Homelessness (1992-1996). Following the 1997 General Election, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Rt Hon William Hague during his leadership of the Conservative Party, before establishing and leading the Business Liaison Unit at Conservative Party headquarters.

Charles Hendry’s business career has mostly been spent in Public Relations, working with the international communications groups Ogilvy & Mather PR and Burson-Marsteller. He was Special Adviser to the Rt Hon John Moore MP as Secretary of State for Social Services (1988) and to the Rt Hon Tony Newton MP as Minister of State for Trade & Industry and then Secretary of State for Social Security (1988-90). He was Founder/Chairman/Chief Executive of The Agenda Group (1999-2005), a specialist consultancy helping company Chairmen and Chief Executives with their corporate networking.

He was born and brought up in Sussex and attended Rugby School from 1972-1976 before going on to study for a degree in Business Studies at Edinburgh University from 1977-1981.

Robert Upton

Deputy Chair, Infrastructure Planning Commission

Biography

Robert was a member of the Administrative Service of the Hong Kong Government from 1972-1991. His work included New Towns policy, Country Parks designation, infrastructure development and urban renewal. As Hong Kong’s first Director of Planning he sponsored major reform of the statutory planning system.

He was appointed Chief Executive of Rushmoor Borough Council in 1992. In 1996, he became Secretary General of the Royal Town Planning Institute. He initiated the RTPI’s New Vision programme promoting the practice of spatial planning, and the reform of the Institute’s education policy. He has served on numerous government task forces and sounding boards associated with the development of planning policy and practice.

Robert is also a Visiting Professor at Sheffield University, Department of Town and Regional Planning. He is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a member of its Council. He was appointed CBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours List.

Duncan Burt

Customer Services Manager, Commercial - Transmission, National Grid

Biography

Duncan heads up the Customer Services Team within National Grid, Transmission, and is responsible for new and existing connections to the gas and electricity Transmission networks and also some aspects of charging. Duncan joined National Grid in 2000, having previously worked in the pharmaceutical sector for what is now Glaxosmithkline. At National Grid he initially worked as a power system engineer before moving through a number of commercial and regulatory posts, predominantly focussed on electricity transmission, prior to his current role. He is based in Warwick, UK.

Jean Llewellyn

Chief Executive, National Skills Academy for Nuclear

Biography

Jean Llewellyn was appointed as the Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear in November 2007. This exciting and challenging role builds on Jean’s breadth of experience and knowledge from her career involving senior management and leadership positions in the private sector, skills policy development in the public sector and further and higher education.Jean is a member of the UK Government’s Nuclear Development Forum and has been a member of numerous Government task groups.

Professor Andrew Sherry

Director, Dalton Nuclear Institute

Biography

Professor Andrew Sherry is Director of the Dalton Nuclear Institute at The University of Manchester, a premier academic institution for nuclear science and engineering. Prior to this he was Director of the Materials Performance Centre, a leading University Research Centre in materials behaviour in nuclear applications. Previously Prof. Sherry was a Senior Consultant at Serco, having worked for 17 years in the nuclear industry.

 Professor Sherry is an international member of the Scientific Review Board for the US INL Advanced Test Reactor, an Independent Expert for Industry and Government, sitting on a number of Technical Working Groups. He is on the Council for the UK Forum for Engineering Structural Integrity (FESI) and an external consultant to MOD, Rolls-Royce, National Nuclear Laboratory, Serco and British Energy providing strategic advice on research, peer review of research outputs, and aspects of nuclear safety. Professor Sherry has given invited papers at international conferences in Europe and the UK. He is Editor of the journal Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures and a member of the ASME Materials and Fabrication Committee. Professor Sherry’s research interest is focused on the mechanistic understanding and predictive modelling of materials performance in engineering applications.

Dr Brian Murphy

Research Director, Cogent SSC

Biography

Dr Brian Murphy was appointed to the Directorate of Cogent in 2007. Cogent is the Sector Skills Council which represents a number of science- and engineering-using sectors of manufacturing: Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Petroleum, Polymers, Oil and Gas. In addition to leading the Cogent Research team, Brian also has a special responsibility to lead the Science and Higher Education team at Cogent and most recently was successful in £3m HEFCE bid for HE workforce development in the Nuclear, Chemical and Bioscience sectors. Prior to Cogent, Brian has extensive academic credentials, most recently as Head of Chemistry and Materials at Manchester Metropolitan University where he led one of the largest workforce development schemes in Chemistry and Materials in the UK. In a career spanning over two decades, Brian has worked in a broad sector of other institutions in the UK and Australia, a consistent thread of which is the application of skills to a variety of workplace and business interests. Brian has approaching one hundred papers in subject research, learning and teaching, and labour market information.

Annabelle Lillycrop

Stakeholder Relations, Environment Agency

Biography

Annabelle oversees community and stakeholder engagement for the Environment Agency’s regulatory role in the potential development of new nuclear power stations.

She has 20 years experience in communications and stakeholder engagement across a variety of sectors including agriculture and retail. Much of this comes from working in different parts of the Environment Agency and its predecessors, including the National Rivers Authority.

Annabelle, 42, lives in Somerset with her partner and his two young boys.

She trained recently as a counsellor and psychotherapist and is involved with the bereavement support charity Cruse. Her other interests include running, cycling, walking and the occasional round of golf.

Richard Smith MVO

Chair, National Site Stakeholder’s Group, Chair, Sizewell Site Stakeholder’s Group

Biography

Richard Smith, MVO, has chaired the Sizewell A and B Stakeholder Group for the five years of its existence and is now also the Chair of the National Stakeholder Chairs Forum. His background is in banking and accountancy, but ten years ago he gave these up to return to his native Suffolk where he has, until recently, run a second-hand bookshop. He has served on his local Town Council and on General Election day this year was elected a County Councillor.

He believes strongly that community feelings, support and concerns need to be conveyed to the nuclear industry, both locally and nationally, in an effective manner and expects the questions he raises on its behalf to be answered fully, honestly and in a straightforward way, devoid of jargon. He is not a technical expert, but sees this as an advantage as he may perhaps raise matters of concern in a different way from what the industry may usually expect.

Mike Caswell

Deputy Chair, Hinkley Point Site Stakeholder Group

Biography

DOB 20/03/1951, 59years old

Occupation Retired Surveyor/ Electrical Engineer.

Deputy Chair of the Hinkley Point SSG, Chair of the Parish of Stockland-Bristol

Mike Tynan

Chief Executive, Westinghouse UK

Biography

Mike Tynan was appointed as the first Chief Executive of Westinghouse UK in November 2008 to lead the integration of Westinghouse’s business interests in the UK.

He brings 34 years of nuclear industry experience to this role and was most recently Managing Director of the Westinghouse UK Fuel Business at Springfields.

He has held leadership positions at the key UK nuclear establishments of Sellafield, Springfields and Risley.

Mike is widely recognised as a change leader and has been at the forefront of major changes in the UK, including restructuring of the UK nuclear industry to create site licensed companies for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Mike is also recognised as an expert in Business to Business service relationships and is dedicated to the development of people within the industry, both as a Director of the UK’s National Skills Academy for Nuclear and through his work with Regional Agencies to further the socio economic development of Central Lancashire.

Professor Steven Cowley

Chief Executive Officer, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Biography

Professor Steven Cowley became Director of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Laboratory in September 2008 and Chief Executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority in November 2009. He received his BA from Oxford University and his PhD. from Princeton University. Professor Cowley’s post-doctoral work was at Culham laboratory and he returned to Princeton in 1987. He joined the faculty at the University of California Los Angeles in 1993 rising to the rank of Full Professor in 2000. From 2001 to 2003 he lead the plasma physics group at Imperial College London. He remains a part time professor at Imperial College. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Director of the Center for Multi-scale Plasma Dynamics at UCLA. His main research interests are: the theory of fusion plasmas, the origin of magnetic fields in the universe, the theory of plasma turbulence and explosive behaviour in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. He has published over 150 papers and articles. Professor Cowley co-chaired the US National Academy’s decadal assessment of, and outlook for plasma science: Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest (National Academy Press 2007). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics.