Minhwan CHANG Chief Representative of KHNP Prague Office
Mr. Minhwan Chang serves as the Chief Representative of KHNP's Prague Office, where he spearheads and coordinates KHNP's efforts in advancing new nuclear projects within the Czech Republic. Since joining KHNP in 2002, Mr. Chang has amassed extensive expertise in nuclear power plant operations and international project development. Notably, in 2011, he played a pivotal role in the triumphant execution of the UAE Barakah NPP construction project, taking charge of ENEC personnel training and commissioning preparations. In 2014, Mr. Chang has made significant contributions to global nuclear safety by serving as a Peer Reviewer at the WANO Tokyo Centre, furthering the cause of safe NPP operations across the globe.
In recent times, Mr. Chang has directed his efforts exclusively towards the expansion of the overseas nuclear sector in Europe, underscoring his commitment to advancing this crucial industry.
Peter DROBNÝ Director, Nuclear Power Plants Personnel Training Center, VUJE Trnava
Peter Drobný received his engineering degree from the Slovak Technical University, where he also received his PhD after defending his doctoral thesis. He started his professional career in the field of operations management (Slovak Power Plants). After a short time at PSA Peugeot Citroen, he joined VUJE, in 2007, where he has headed the NPP Personnel Training Division since 2019. In this position, he was significantly involved in the development and implementation of the new full-scale simulator of the V-2 nuclear power plant, which is among the absolute top in its sector.
Jessica JOHNSON Communications & Advocacy Director, nucleareurope, Brussels
Jessica Johnson is currently the Communications & Advocacy Director at nucleareurope, a position which she has held since 2017. From a communications perspective, her role includes the development of internal & external communications strategies, event organisation, drafting of press releases, publications and other communications tools. On the advocacy side, she is also responsible for liaising with different EU stakeholders such as the European Parliament, trade unions and NGOs.
More specifically, she currently also handles all issues relating to sustainability policy including, sustainable finance – and in particular the sustainable finance taxonomy and relevant EU funds. Jessica is furthermore responsible for activities in the area of skills, with the goal of ensuring that the nuclear sector has access to the skilled workforce it needs and rendering nuclear an attractive career choice for the young generation in particular.
Karel KATOVSKÝ Associate Professor & Co-Leader of the Czech-Korean Nuclear Cooperation Centre, Brno University of Technology
Karel Katovský graduated from the Czech Technical University in Prague in Nuclear Engineering in 2001. In his diploma as well as dissertation thesis, he focused on accelerator-driven subcritical systems for the transmutation of spent nuclear fuel. Since 2005, he has worked as an assistant professor at the Department of Nuclear Reactors of the Czech Technical University in Prague. From 2008 to 2012, he worked as a researcher at the Physics Computations department of ŠKODA JS, plc. at a detached workplace at the Dukovany Power Plant. Since 2011, he has been working at the Department of Electrical Power Engineering of the Brno University of Technology as Associate Professor. He initiated the establishment of the interdisciplinary master's degree program called Nuclear Power Engineering. At BUT, he is also the coordinator of cooperation with thirteen foreign universities and companies, e.g. with Texas A&M University, Yerevan State University, the Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, Uzhhorod National University, and KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School. Together with Professor Juyoul Kim, dean at this university, he initiated the establishment of a Czech-Korean Nuclear Cooperation Center, the educational and training center to prepare professionals for the support of the construction of new units 5 and 6 of the Dukovany power plant.
Juyoul KIM Professor & Dean of External Affairs, Kepco International Nuclear Graduate School, Co-Leader of the Czech-Korean Nuclear Cooperation Centre
Professor Juyoul Kim graduated from Seoul National University in 2002. He was serving as a researcher for Waste Disposal Research Group of KHNP-NETEC for 2 years from 1998 to 2000. After graduation he joined CENS UCLA for 3 years being postdoctoral research associate. He was serving as director of radiation environment department of FNC Technologies in Suwon from 2005 to 2017 and part-timely was also delivering lectures at Dongguk University. He joined KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School as an Assistant Professor in Radiation Protection in 2018 and was promoted to associate professor in 2022. From 2022 he has also served as Dean of External Affairs of KINGS and Section Chair of Korea Nuclear Society as well as the member of Board of Editors for Korean Radioactive Waste Society. He is very active in support of international cooperation of KINGS and Czech, Polish, and other universities. He introduced the idea of a Czech Korean Nuclear Cooperation Centre and is going to be its director from the Korean side.
Štěpán KOCHÁNEK Director of the Section for Nuclear Safety, the Deputy-Chair of the State Office for Nuclear Safety
Štěpán Kochánek works for the State Office for Nuclear Safety, the Czech regulatory body for a peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation, since 2003. Formerly he acted as a lawyer and head of the Legal Department, being responsible for legal affairs related to all aspects of nuclear safety and security, radiation safety, emergency management, transport of nuclear and radioactive materials and radioactive waste management. Recently, as the Director of the Section for Nuclear Safety, he is responsible for management of all aspects of nuclear safety, nuclear security and radioactive waste management, including licensing, inspections and safety assessments.
Štěpán Kochánek participates as an expert on EU development projects in neighboring countries (Armenia, Jordan, Ukraine) and as a lecturer and external expert for the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme. He is the Czech Republic’s representative in the IAEA NHSI and is involved in the EU SMR related activities and represents the regulatory body in national SMRs’ intragovernmental initiatives. He represents the Czech regulator in several NEA/OECD bodies and in WENRA.
Mr. Kochánek holds Master’s Degree in Law and Legal Theory.
Petr KUBÍN Director of Corporate strategy, ČEZ
Petr Kubín works in the company since 2007. His key responsibilities are development of the corporate strategy for the CEZ Group, finding new growth opportunities, formulation of business unit strategies, economic evaluation of acquisition targets and formulation of business plans and particular strategies in the energy sector and beyond.
Petr completed PhD in 2007 and MSc in 1999, both in Power engineering at the at Czech technical university in Prague, during 2001-2003 he worked at the KU Leuven, Belgium.
Lubomír LÍZAL economist, Associate Professor, Czech Technical University in Prague
Mr. Lízal graduated at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University. In 1998 he obtained a PhD in economics at CERGE, Charles University and in 2006 he qualified as an associate professor in economics at Charles University.
Since 1993 he has worked as a researcher at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. In 2003–2008 he has been Director of both the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and CERGE, Charles University. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University, and other scientific boards. He was a member of the National Economic Council of the Government and a member of the supervisory board of energy company ČEZ. Lubomír Lízal has been a member of the Czech National Bank Board from February 2011 till February 2017. In 2020-2021 he was CEO of Expobank CZ, where he was (among others) responsible for business projects in energy sector.
Currently he works on analysis of financing energy transition and is an associate professor at Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics, both at the Czech Technical University and at The University of Finance and Administration.
Petr MACH Director ENERGOPROJEKT PRAHA division, ÚJV Řež (Nuclear Research Institute)
Petr holds the master’s degree from the Czech technical University in Prague. He has over 15 years of demonstrated managerial and technical expertise in the performance of the consulting services for the nuclear industry. After joining the UJV Petr stepped up through various technical and managerial positions with increasing responsibility. He also took part in the technical meetings within the IAEA framework of activities related to new build NPPs and SMR projects. He is currently responsible for the UJV division focused on design and engineering services for the existing fleets of NPPs as well as for the new build projects in both, Czechia, and world market. Among the recent key tasks belongs the support of the owner in the new build NPP project in Dukovany and preparation of the studies for SMR projects to be implemented in the Czech Republic.
Jiří MAREK NE•RS 2024 Conference Chairman
Jiri is the consultant in the field of power industry and is the Partner & Head Executive of JMM Consulting, Ltd. – a company focused on advisory services and organization of professional activities. After graduating from the Czech Technical University, Faculty of Technical and Nuclear Physics, he worked in research; he has been working in the power industry field since 1974 (until 1996 in ČEZ). For the last more than thirty years, he was the advisor of the Minister of Industry and Trade, chairman and vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board of ČEZ, a member of supervisory boards in several energy distribution companies and an advisor of Deputy Ministers of Finance. In these positions, he was dealing with the reorganization of state administration in power industry, the development of state energy policy, the establishment of the State Office for Nuclear Safety and with the preparation of the privatization of Czech power industry. He is occupied by publication activities, mainly in the field of nuclear power industry and has wide experience in organizing of international and specialized professional conferences and meetings. His positions are quoted on TV, radio and in economic periodicals. In 2014 Jiri was elected the President of the Association of Czech Nuclear Veterans.
Jan RATAJ Head of the Department of Nuclear Reactors, Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague
Jan Rataj graduated from the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague with a master's and doctoral degree in Nuclear Engineering. In 2001 he became a member of the Department of Nuclear Reactors and since 2005 he has been working there as an academic researcher. From 2008 to 2018 he held the position of Head of Reactor Operation VR-1 and Deputy Head of the Department, since 2018 he has been the Head of the Department. He is the guarantor of the Bachelor's degree program in Nuclear Engineering. As an academic researcher, he provides teaching in the field of experimental neutron and reactor physics. He is engaged in experimental and teaching activities at the VR-1 and VR-2 reactors and in the development of nuclear education in the Czech Republic. He led the project for the construction of the VR-2 subcritical reactor. He cooperates with the IAEA in the field of the use of research nuclear reactors and the promotion of nuclear education and training, and participates in IAEA missions aimed at assessing the safety of research nuclear facilities. He is a member of the Council of the State Institute of Radiation Protection.
Jan SKOPEČEK Deputy Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic
Jan Skopeček graduated in economics and management at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and then in economic policy and administration at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague, where he also completed his PhD studies. His professional interests focus on the history of economic thought, economic integration theory and public sector economics. He is one of the leading economic experts of ODS (Civic Democratic Party – right wing party, now the leading one of the governmental coalition).
He has been active in politics for twenty years, since 2017 he has been a deputy and since November 2021, he has been a deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
Pavel ŠOTOLA Chief Ministerial Official, Ministry of Industry and Trade
Pavel graduated in Electrical a Nuclear Engineering at Brno University of Technology. He actively participated on the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in the Czechia, Slovakia, China, U.S.A., Switzerland, Finland and Brazil. For more than 40 years he acted in number of managing positions at ČEZ, Slovenské elektrárne, AF Consult, Invensys Operation Management, Škoda JS, Škoda Prague, and currently he acts as senior adviser for nuclear sector at the Czech Ministry of industry and Trade.
Francisco Javier ELORZA TENREIRO President of European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN/, Professor in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Francisco Javier Elorza Tenreiro obtained the title of Mining Engineer, Energy track, at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in 1981. He obtained the title of Doctor of Mining Engineer at the UPM in 1985. He was Associated Professor in the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Dept. of UPM from 1997 to 2008. Since November 2008 he is Full Professor in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering of the UPM. Since 2021 he is Director of the ETSI of Mines and Energy of the UPM. From 1986 he has participated in more than 40 research projects related with Nuclear Waste Management and Nuclear Facilities Decommissioning.
Author or co-author of more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, more than 20 books and book chapters and more than 200 communications at national or international scientific conferences. He has participated in numerous scientific committees (MECD, CICYT, ANEP, EU, CNRS (France), ENEN (Belgium)). He is a member of the Science and Technology Council of the Community of Madrid (Spain). He has been president of the Spanish Group of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (AIH-GE) (2009-2012) and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of IGME (Geological Bureau of Spain) in 2021. In March 2024 he was elected President of the ENEN Association.
Zdeněk ZAJÍČEK President, Czech Chamber of Commerce
Zdeněk Zajíček graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University. From 1996 to 1998 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. From 1999 to 2002 he was the head of the Prague City Office. From 2006 to 2009 he served as Deputy Minister of the Interior responsible for public administration, informatics, legislation and archives. He was then successively Deputy Minister of Justice with responsibility for the implementation of data boxes in the judiciary and Deputy Minister of Finance with responsibility for ICT and state property management.
He was involved in the establishment of the Council for Information Society and Competitiveness, which he chaired repeatedly. He has been involved in a number of successful projects in the field of digitalization of public administration, such as Czech POINT, Data boxes, Basic registers, State Treasury Information System, Banking Identity, Digitalization of Construction Management, Digital Technical Maps, Act on BIM or Act on the Right to Digital Services. He is also the President of the ICT Union. He initiated the establishment of the Government Committee for Strategic Investments and in the autumn of 2022, on behalf of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, became the coordinator for solving the energy crisis in the Czech Republic, including related assistance to entrepreneurs.
Petr ZÁVODSKÝ Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Boards at ČEZ daughter SPV’s Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s. and Elektrárna Temelín II
Petr Závodský joined CEZ Group in 1994, started at Nuclear Power Plant Temelín during construction of Units 1&2, among others as Manager of Independent Verification and Validation of the Safety Systems Software. In autumn 2006, when CEZ decided to prepare New Nuclear Built, Petr was one of the first members of the new team, responsible for technical part. In April 2009 he becomes Director of NPPs Construction Department responsible for nuclear new build within ČEZ Group, i.e. New NPPs at Dukovany and Temelín (in the Czech Republic) as well as at Jaslovské Bohunice (Slovakia).
Currently he is Chairman of the Board of Directors at ČEZ daughter SPV’s Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s. and Elektrárna Temelín II a. s. as well as Chief Executive Officer of those companies. Additionally, he is Vice-Chairman of Board of Directors at ČEZ Bohunice, a. s.