José A. Gago is as seasoned executive who has dedicated his career almost entirely to the nuclear industry. He brings in his technical and managerial experience in the whole nuclear fuel cycle, from fuel procurement and design, plant design, licensing and operations, spent fuel storage and disposal, fuel reprocessing, radwaste management and plant decommissioning. 

Professional History

Gago retired in 2022 from Anav, the operator of 3 PWR 1,000 MWe nuclear reactors at 2 sites in Tarragona (Spain), as its General Manager and CEO, a position he held for 10 years. 

He joined the Spanish utility Endesa, part of the Enel group, as the Engineering and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Deputy Director in 2008, being in charge of uranium procurement, front-end and back-end strategies and contracts and the supervision of main engineering projects for Endesa’s nuclear fleet. 

He worked for Enresa, the Spanish radioactive waste management national company, for more than 20 years where he occupied several positions related with spent fuel and high-level wastes interim storage and final disposal, reprocessing and decommissioning activities. 

Industry Leadership

Gago has been Anav’s Governor at the World Association of Nuclear Operators Paris Centre Governing Board since 2012 and was elected as its Chairman in 2020, thereby becoming a member of the WANO’s Main Governing Board. He has been President of the Spanish Nuclear Society, member of the Foro Nuclear Board of Directors, member of the JANSI’s International Advisory Committee and invited expert to several IAEA technical and support missions, among other significant international assignments. 

Education

Gago holds an MSc in Energy and Nuclear Technologies Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, and spent his initial post graduate years as an Associate Professor in fluid mechanics and as a Researcher in the fields of nuclear fusion and plasma hydrodynamics.