“My leadership philosophy has been shaped by a strong belief in accountability, integrity, and purpose-driven action—values that are deeply embedded in the nuclear industry’s safety culture. A significant influence has been Admiral (Ret.) Bob Willard, President and CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), whose emphasis on personal accountability as a cornerstone of nuclear safety deeply resonates with me. His perspective—that every leader, regardless of level, has a direct impact on nuclear safety performance—reinforced my conviction that safety is not a delegated responsibility; it’s a lived, personal commitment,” Cosmin Ghita, Nuclearelectrica CEO, told The Diplomat-Bucharest.
“At Nuclearelectrica, we’ve internalized this mindset. Leadership is not just about setting direction—it’s about setting the tone. It’s about walking the talk when it comes to safety, ethics, and long-term responsibility. In the nuclear field, where the margin for error is zero, accountability is non-negotiable. What I have learned from INPO’s guidance and leaders like Bob Willard is that true leadership means creating a culture where excellence is the standard, feedback is welcomed, and every individual feels empowered—and obligated—to act in the interest of safety and continuous improvement.”
What are the key qualities you believe a leader must have in a high-stakes industry like nuclear energy?
I would start like this: leadership in the nuclear industry is a holistic concept that far transcends leadership theory in general. It is an absolutely essential accumulation of expertise and skills of learning, leading, and mentoring that have one absolute and constant goal: nuclear safety.
A nuclear operator depends in operation, production, profit, investments, processes, activities on nuclear safety. Nuclear safety provides the essential dimension of a nuclear operator and is the guarantee of all other processes.
But nuclear safety depends exclusively on people, on experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, responsiveness, the ability to solve complex issues quickly and correctly.
All nuclear plant operators are affiliated to the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). I know that in Romania we are not familiar with WANO, but this organization defines and applies everything related to nuclear safety at operator level through standards, principles and assessments.
Nuclear safety is based on 10 principles of leadership, concrete behaviors that are learned through mentoring and tested, and are the guiding book of any worker in the nuclear industry, whether it is a control room operator or administrative staff. Every decision has an impact on nuclear safety.
A leader in the nuclear industry has extensive technical knowledge, very high systems inter-comparability capability, responsiveness, constructive pro-active attitude, constructive re-active attitude.
He/she has and must have: individual commitment to nuclear safety, it’s not merely words, but it goes deep into the operating level, management commitment to nuclear safety educated and cascaded at the individual level to the teams, constant questioning attitude, a decision-making system that leaves no room for error and that is formed over many years and through many experiences and training.
In a nuclear power plant, the teams, by different specializations, work like a Swiss watch. Otherwise it doesn’t work.
This type of people is rare. Such people are hard to train, and when you have them, as is the case with other nuclear operators worldwide, you keep them, you capitalize on them because, as I was saying, these people are in fact nuclear safety. The thesis that we want nuclear security at the highest level – which is perfectly normal – but we have a problem with experts does not make sense in the nuclear industry. We do not want that and I say that with full responsibility.
What was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make as CEO?
I would rather focus on a present challenge. Nuclear excellence is mainly achieved by creating teams, through trust and by capitalizing on human capabilities.
Associated with investment projects, the development of the human resources strategy has been and remains an essential priority for Nuclearelectrica.
A few years ago, we initiated a process to recruit and train a new generation of specialists to carry on with the investment projects, whether we are talking about the refurbishment of Unit 1, Unit 2 by 2037, the Units 3 and 4 Project, or even the implementation of SMR. We have already launched dual education projects, on-the-job training programs, internships, and mentoring. Everything that can be implemented at the organizational level for this purpose.
For the Unit 1 refurbishment project, we have also provided on-the-job training in Canada to facilitate their professional development on refurbishment projects already implemented with the same technology.
We want to build robust, strategic projects for Romania’s energy future, using Romania’s human resources. It is up to us to stop migration to other countries as much as possible. Yes, we take young people and specialists from Romania and train them further for our projects.
Who or what has influenced your leadership philosophy the most?
My leadership philosophy has been shaped by a strong belief in accountability, integrity, and purpose-driven action—values that are deeply embedded in the nuclear industry’s safety culture. A significant influence has been Admiral (Ret.) Bob Willard, President and CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), whose emphasis on personal accountability as a cornerstone of nuclear safety deeply resonates with me. His perspective—that every leader, regardless of level, has a direct impact on nuclear safety performance—reinforced my conviction that safety is not a delegated responsibility; it’s a lived, personal commitment.
At Nuclearelectrica, we’ve internalized this mindset. Leadership is not just about setting direction—it’s about setting the tone. It’s about walking the talk when it comes to safety, ethics, and long-term responsibility. In the nuclear field, where the margin for error is zero, accountability is non-negotiable. What I have learned from INPO’s guidance and leaders like Bob Willard is that true leadership means creating a culture where excellence is the standard, feedback is welcomed, and every individual feels empowered—and obligated—to act in the interest of safety and continuous improvement.
This approach continues to guide me as we steer complex, strategic projects while fostering a next-generation workforce that must carry forward these values with the same level of discipline and commitment.
What advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to lead in the energy sector?
Remember that the nuclear industry means continuous training. Although it sounds conservative, it is a dynamic industry that is continuously improving and updating, also for nuclear safety reasons. The nuclear industry functions globally as a large network for sharing experience and lessons learned. In the most concrete way possible, and probably the only industry that does this de facto, constantly.
Access to onsite continuing education and training is mandatory, not voluntary. Access to international technical courses is mandatory, not voluntary. What one specialist learns from the experience of another nuclear power plant may in time prove essential for another nuclear power plant. Training means technical knowledge and technological advancement, strategic thinking, decision-making processes on complex issues, linking these with regulatory complexity.
These specialists train in their turn: they develop programs for the application of knowledge, they ensure the transition from theory to practice for newcomers, because a nuclear power plant is not operated on university education only.
It is critical to have experienced staff who are close to retirement age or who are over it, but whose knowledge and experience can add value to the decisions made at the plant, contributing to the development of a new generation of nuclear professionals. For example, based on their experience in various positions in several departments or even organizations, they can carry out comparative analyses and provide information relevant to specific projects that they can explain to those they mentor.
People, based on retirement legislation, can decide to retire, it is their right that the employer cannot interfere with. But these people are essential, and then a nuclear operator has rather an obligation to keep them.
In recent years we have employed around 1500 people. Please imagine the training effort. It also matters enormously who does the training. If we think about this objectively, in terms of training, nuclear safety, long-term investment, it is a great advantage in terms of human, technical and generational resources.
Nuclearelectrica, like most nuclear power plants around the world, is in a process of generational change in a context of an acute shortage of specialists in the field worldwide.
The essential prerequisite for the safe operation of nuclear power plants is – without any doubt – the expertise of the personnel and the ability to train new generations.
The nuclear sector requires a consistently high level of diverse skills and faces challenges in attracting the younger generation. Possible gaps in human resources and skills could become critical considering the importance of the sector.
For us, it is imperative to address the workforce and skills shortages to ensure the safe use of current and future nuclear technologies (including SMRs) and to strengthen nuclear safety, waste management, decommissioning and radiation protection capabilities.
In this context, it is essential for Nuclearelectrica to implement the strategy of attracting new people into the nuclear field and training and retaining this workforce to acquire the necessary skills, with a focus on the transferability of skills.
In this context, knowledge transfer from experienced staff to the new generation is not a “formality” but a concrete and practical necessity.
It is already several years since we launched the Nucleus of Excellence platform, the employer branding program that prepares us to attract and train a new generation of professionals in the nuclear industry. We’ve reached thousands of young people through the programs we’ve developed: career fairs, presentations, events, scholarships, dual schools, vocational schools, internships. Starting with the 2024-2025 academic year, we have launched the first dual university degree program in Romania, combining theory with practical experience over four years. These measures will continue and gain momentum in 2025, when we set ambitious goals related to partnerships with educational institutions, the launch of new educational programs, participation in career events, continuation of scholarship and internship programs.
Thus, the high level of complexity and uniqueness of the work arising from the specificity of our field of activity, the strict regulations stemming from the need to ensure nuclear safety, the number, scale and importance of strategic investment projects, the need for credibility with investors, the context of the shortage of specialized nuclear skills at national and global level, and the best practice requirements of the international bodies in the field that audit us, guide our staffing strategy for the next decade.
What are the main challenges facing the nuclear energy industry in Romania and globally?
I have to say that the most crucial challenge is the human resource.
I will give you concrete examples of the work and importance of the staff in the plant.
– The Chief Shift Dispatcher has full responsibility and authority for the safe operation of the unit for which he is authorized and for the safety of all people on site during both normal operation and abnormal situations. He shall act in accordance with the requirements of the Authorization to Operate and the Operating Policies and Principles, which he must comply with at all times. He also has the authority to shut down the unit for which he is authorized or any specific equipment and to disobey orders from his superiors if he believes that they could endanger the safety of the plant or personnel.
In short, the Chief Shift Dispatcher is to be understood as a ship or airplane captain, a highly qualified person, occupying this position after many years of experience and after many examinations taken. He is solely responsible for the NPP during his watch, just like in case of a ship or airplane captain.
-Directors and Chief Engineers are people who head the Departments or Directorates of the NPP, usually persons with 25-30 years of experience each. Their role is primarily to ensure the day to day operational focus, i.e. the day to day running of the NPP, then to develop the Departments/Directorates on the longer term. These individuals also have a role in the Emergency Response Organizational Structure, fulfilling the role of Emergency Director, Emergency Technical Issues Officer, Operations Specialist, Maintenance Specialist, Engineering Specialist.
Over the years, Nuclearelectrica has been confronted with the departure of highly qualified specialists to nuclear power plants outside the country, strictly for financial reasons. In this context, it has adopted, with maximum responsibility for nuclear safety, current and future operations, all the necessary measures to retain specialists. Romania has some of the best specialists in the nuclear industry, their retention and know-how transfer being critical issues in the industry.
Between 2017-2024 the organization lost 1433 specialists as a result of their migration to other countries or through retirement with some special situations recorded in 2017 when 173 colleagues retired at the Nuclear Fuel Plant and in 2018 when 110 specialists left CNE Cernavoda. In the same period of time 1541 specialists were hired and trained.
And in general, any person with technical responsibilities is a critical piece in a big picture.
Then, we must know that the technical side operates with resources provided by the administrative staff, i.e.: on time, which is essential, and correctly.
We are now mainly talking about the technical side because it is predominant, but a nuclear operator is a complex entity: producer, investor, listed entity, i.e. to the operation, we add all the aspects that position any other company on the market. Operation cannot do without administrative thinking and vice versa.
Globally, nuclear industry personnel are well paid and we have seen why. In Romania, there is a CNCAN rule, which requires human resources to be paid at European level. For 2 major reasons: to limit the migration of highly specialized staff to other nuclear power plants (as it happened in 2017, 2018 by migrating to the UAE, for a salary level that Romania did not have/could not offer) and to keep critical expertise in the country. If the regulator imposes such a rule, surely there are sound arguments behind it.
Can you imagine that while we are developing in parallel 3 strategic investment projects, estimated at many billions of Euros, with a strategic role for Romania’s energy security, with generational transfer in full process, we are still deliberately leaving the possibility of effective migration of personnel? I think we can all imagine the consequences!
Romania cannot pay at the level of the UAE or other countries, but when there is a high demand internationally for experienced staff in the nuclear industry, it would be unimaginable not to make any effort to keep them in the country for our projects, for the future of this industry. To do as little as possible is equal to destroying this industry. I set out to grow it, whatever the opinion of the moment.
A simple comparison between Romania and other countries: in the US, a chief engineer gets up to $200,000 a year, in Canada, CAD 180,000, in France, EUR 140,000, and in the UAE, since we had the problem of migrating to the UAE, a salary for a chief engineer (mostly expat) reaches $250,000, or about $21,000 a month. Please tell me, in this context, what should Romania do not to lose its most valuable resource? At entry level, I repeat entry level, salaries are 100.000 $ US, 90.000 CAD Canada and 140.000 $ UAE, that is in the case of UAE about 11.000 $ per month.
What are Nuclearelectrica’ s strategic priorities over the next 5 to 10 years?
I believe it is important to have a long-term vision for the future. The two nuclear units we operate in Cernavoda contribute to Romania’s energy security and to achieving decarbonization targets through the 225 million tons of CO2 avoided since commissioning to date (10 million tons of CO2 avoided annually) and contribute approximately 33% of Romania’s total clean energy. And this significant impact comes solely from the operation of two CANDU units.
By expanding nuclear capacity with CANDU units in Romania, nuclear energy will reach a contribution of approximately 66% in clean energy, avoiding 20 million tons of CO2 annually. Considering the implementation of SMR, the percentage of clean energy will increase significantly, ensuring the maintenance and/or development of areas where coal-fired power plants were located, generating clean energy and thousands of new jobs, both directly and indirectly.
The nuclear industry in Romania makes an important contribution to the national GDP and provides thousands of jobs. This figure will increase to 20,000 jobs after the launch of the new nuclear projects we have undertaken.
It is necessary to ensure low-carbon, back-up production capacities for renewables. Here too, nuclear energy is a clear solution.
Looking further ahead, nuclear technology is already addressing changing consumption needs by becoming more flexible, less capital-intensive in the construction phase, and also solving the nuclear waste problem through continuous reprocessing in Generation IV reactors. Small modular reactors are the nuclear industry’s response to decarbonization requirements, making this technology easier to implement and operate in areas isolated from the grid, industrial sites, and so on, with enhanced passive safety systems that require even fewer resources, such as fuel and cooling water, to operate.
The impact of investment in nuclear power is quantifiable both in terms of increased security of supply for Romania and the region, given the unified European market, which is estimated to reach 15% interconnectivity by 2030, and in terms of the development of related industries, infrastructure, research and development, and education.