Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Rumina Velshi. LinkedIn
SaskPower continues to build out its nuclear team, with a steady string of nuclear-related job postings. Now that’s reached the board level, with a heavy hitter appointed to the SaskPower board of directors. And her experience with nuclear licensing is sure to help out with SaskPower’s application for its first nuclear license, a tremendously rigorous process that is taking years to go through.
And who better to assist in sorting out regulator issues than the former head of the regulator?
Former Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) president and CEO Rumina Velshi, was appointed to the SaskPower Board of Directors through an Order in Council.
“Ms. Velshi brings to Saskatchewan four decades of experience in nuclear energy development and leading transformational change in global institutions,” Crown Investments Corporation Minister Dustin Duncan said in a release. “As SaskPower continues to explore the potential to deploy the Small Modular Reactor technology in the province, Ms. Velshi’s skills, expertise and her international and national perspectives are an invaluable asset to SaskPower and Saskatchewan.”
Velshi is appointed for a two-year term as a member of the SaskPower Board, effective May 1, 2024.
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“I am honoured to be part of the SaskPower Board of Directors which is leading the Crown corporation’s efforts in advancing SMR development in Saskatchewan,” Velshi said. “It is exciting for me to take part in building a brand-new nuclear energy program in a green field jurisdiction in Canada, leveraging this province’s existing experience in nuclear research and development, and supply chain management.”
Velshi was the President and CEO of the CNSC between 2018 and 2023. Before that, she was a CNSC member and long-time executive at Ontario Power Generation. She is currently a senior advisor at Torys LLP in its Nuclear Energy Practice, a senior advisor to the CEO and board of the Polish multinational Orlen Energy, and a board member of Hydro Ottawa.
Notably, Orlen is going all-in with nuclear development, and has chosen to build as many as 79 reactors of the same design SaskPower has chosen across 26 locations. If it carries out with that plan, Orlen will far and away become the largest operator of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 model.
She is a co-founder and principal of ZettaJoule Inc., a Japanese startup which intends to provide clean power directly to commercial end-users through Japanese high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology.
Her LinkedIn profile notes that she was also the director for planning and control for the Darlington New Nuclear Project from 2007-2009. That project eventually chose the BWRX-300 and is under construction today.
Velshi also holds numerous positions with international nuclear organizations, including:
- member, International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency;
- Chair, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency High Level Group on Stakeholder Engagement and Trust; and
- International Expert Advisor to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority.
Velshi is a nuclear engineer who obtained her engineering degree from the University of Toronto. She has extensive experience nationally and internationally in promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers, especially for women.
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