Yanko Yanev

Yanko Yanev

Yanko Yanev has played a vital role in shaping and influencing nuclear energy landscape in Europe. He strongly contributed towards establishing a dialogue among countries which deploy different nuclear power technologies.

Messages of Yanko Yanev on critical elements of nuclear power are clear and appealing Short interview by I2en in 2013.

Yanko Yanev studied at the University of Sofia, taking MSc in Nuclear Chemistry and a PhD in Environmental Radiochemistry. For more than 20 years he developed an academic career as a professor in Nuclear Chemistry and Head of the Radiochemical Laboratory of the University of Sofia. His main work was in the field of Environmental Radioactivity and Reactor Coolant Chemistry. Following the Chernobyl accident he took a leading role in the analysis of the environmental consequences in Bulgaria. In 1991 he was appointed Chairman of a Government Commission, which reviewed the nuclear power industry in Bulgaria. The same year he was appointed as President of the State Committee on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes (the Bulgarian Atomic Energy Commission) and he served until 1996. Other highlights include Vice Chairman of the IAEA's Board of Governors; Senior Energy consultant to the Bulgarian-Russian Investment Bank(BRIB, currently Bulgarian Economic Investment Bank); Member of the State Commission for Energy Regulation ( 1992–1996). In 1997 he took up the post of Programme Coordinator and later on Programme Liaison Officer of the Department of Nuclear Energy at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1998. In 2001, he was appointed Section Head of the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) and has been the Agency’s cross-cutting coordinator for Nuclear Knowledge Management since 2002.

His fields of expertise cover: environmental radiochemistry, nuclear chemical engineering, nuclear power and nuclear safety, nuclear and energy regulation. Mr. Yanev is a member of the Bulgarian, American and European Nuclear Societies, the New York Academy of Science and the Balkan Academy of Science. He is also member of the Board of the Bulgarian Energy Policy Association. In 2010 he has been elected as Member of the International Nuclear Energy Academy. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers and conference reports in the field of nuclear chemical engineering, environmental issues relating to nuclear power, radiation and nuclear safety, and energy regulation and management. He has served on a number of international committees: Co-chairing Committee III on the Conference for the Extension of the Treaty for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Arms (New York, 1995); as Bulgaria's representative in the Plenary meeting and meetings of the Steering Committee of the G 24 Co ordination Mechanism for Improving the Safety of Soviet-designed Nuclear Power Plants, the EC group of nuclear regulators (CONCERT) and others. From 2002 till 2012 he has been in charge of the Nuclear Knowledge Management Programme and has been the Head of the Nuclear Knowledge Management Unit(currently Section) of the IAEA. At present he provides support advice in developing further knowledge management initiatives to the IAEA Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy. In 2012 he established the Nuclear Knowledge Management Institute as a non-profit organization to support knowledge management initiatives in the nuclear field. . Currently he is the CEO of the International Institute for Nuclear Knowledge Management in Vienna, Austria.

References

• I2EN meeting proceedings ^[1]
• Conversations with Yanko Yanev ^[2]