Gago

The governing board of the World Association of Nuclear Operators has appointed José Gago as the new WANO chair. He was formerly the general manager and chief executive officer of the Asociacion Nuclear Asco-Vandellos (ANAV) in Spain.

Gago will succeed the current chair, Tom Mitchell, on March 1, 2025, after Mitchell completes his full six-year term in the role.

Background: Gago has been ANAV’s governor at the WANO Paris Centre’s governing board since 2012 and was elected its chairperson in 2020. He has been the president of the Spanish Nuclear Society and a member of the Foro Nuclear board of directors, and he has kept close contact with the nuclear industry, serving on several advisory boards and participating in the International Atomic Energy Agency expert missions.

Foro Nuclear, a Madrid-based association representing the interests of Spain’s nuclear sector, is not at all happy with its government’s involvement in a letter sent late last month to the European Commission calling for the exclusion of nuclear energy from the European Union taxonomy. (The taxonomy is a classification system establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities for the EU.) Signing the letter were Spain’s minister for ecological transition and minister for the economy, as well as ministers from Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Luxembourg.