A word from the author

My name is Timo Okkonen (LinkedIn). I have 35 years of experience in the nuclear industry and a doctoral degree in nuclear safety. I worked for the first ten years in expert duties related to plant design (BWRs and PWRs). After that, I have been leading challenging businesses, operations, and projects on all sides of the nuclear new-build scenery: owner, regulator, supplier, inspections, and research.

My main passion is to help organizations succeed in nuclear new build. I enjoy finding solutions and approaches that meet the expectations of the three key new-build parties: owner, supplier, and regulator. I want to maintain a high level of integrity and neutrality with respect to different technologies and organizations. I like coaching leaders seeking the best ways forward.

I am the founder of Kind Atom and I work as the program advisor mainly for the new nuclear initiatives in Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. I have supported owners in their feasibility studies, held management workshops, and prepared program plans and market studies, among many other assignments. I have also conducted ministry and regulator studies on the development of SMR projects and new regulations.

I hope that you find the new guide helpful. The guide may be challenging because it covers the whole picture except for the business case and the politics. Anyway, I encourage you to grind through even those parts of the guide that may feel either tough or trivial.

The guide is about how to execute an owner’s new-build program. It is meant to support anyone thinking about or being responsible for executing nuclear new build.

I will probably update the guide once per year, so I would love to get your feedback. I will be publishing short videos to clarify the most essential principles. The best way to catch those is to follow Kind Atom (LinkedIn).