- Name and surname: Álvaro Fenoy Cruz
- Current position or responsibility: Head of characterisation and engineering support licence PDC CNJC. Naturgy Ingeniería Nuclear
- Company in which she works: Naturgy Ingeniería Nuclear
- Education: Ciencias Físicas -Esp. Aplicada – UAM
How many years have you been in your current job and what are the main activities you carry out? What drove you to get to your current position?
I’ve been in this position for almost 5 years, now, although the scope has changed over this time. Initially I started covering a vacancy due to the project needs, but the team has been adapting with the progresses. The activities are quite varied, since the engineering support services for Enresa, includes both the preparation of the relevant reviews of license and auxiliary documentation, as well as the monitoring of the applicable processes within the framework of the Site Remediation/License Termination Plan. Also it’s stimulating and interesting acting as a link for different tasks and documenting coverage, both with the project managers and areas or services in the site.
The most interesting part of your job… any milestone you would like to highlight?
To date I have been involved in very varied projects and functions within the Spanish nuclear sector, also with some projects abroad, and I consider that kind of variety as an advantage. From engineering support to the utilities and power plants, as well as in in the waste and spent nuclear management areas, also including mixed activities in technological monitoring and new technologies projects, or supporting the RP calculations, including the epidemiological study at the time, or some periodic safety reviews. I’ve been able to see and perform different roles and tasks, and that’s crucial for learning all kind of aspects in this context. Now, I consider it a luxury to be able to participate in many of the processes involved in the D&D, and detailed application of a Remediation Plan, up to the release and license termination phase for a nuclear site, which is quite interesting and unique. Everything adds up and contributes to who I am.
The most rewarding thing about your day to day at work…
People mainly. I think the most rewarding thing in work is being able and feel that you are making/being part of a team (in the broadest sense), and having a good work environment, with the necessary: empathy and humor, motivation and collaboration.
I think that if you lose this, any job is much more difficult. Considering self-activities, I have always considered that the most rewarding thing is being able to learn something new every day, and to contribute, feeling that you are useful and part of a whole that contributes to a common goal is the most pleasant thing about work and day-to-day life from my point of view.
What brought you to the nuclear industry and how did people around you react to your decision? And now?
In the beginning it was a bit of coincidence, being in the right place right after finishing my university studies. As a physicist it was an attractive world for me, but I had not considered a specific horizon. Quite early an opportunity arose to start working directly in the waste management area for supporting Enresa activities. After a training period, which opened up a lot of applied knowledge for me in a short time I stayed in the team definetely.
If I have to think about a reaction from the environment in an encompassing way, I would say that it could have been a mixture of…caution and trust, skepticism and admiration?
How do you see the evolution of the industry since you joined it? and well, … And now what?
My vision aims to be self-critical but conscious, responsible and positive. Now it’s time for what’s time, and it may be a required condition to continue on the path and keep moving forward. I believe that the sector has been modernized, opened in part, and it has reinvented itself to the extent possible, although we still have a pathway to cover. It brings together much of the best technological or commercial capabilities in Spain, and has made a place for itself globally that is significant. In many ways it is a sector that is admirable, a good model or guide for others, and what we largely lack is being able to communicate with society for transmissible and recognizable facts, as a guarantee of scientific rigor, technological response and knowledge acquired and shared, despite certain inherent or circumstantial obstacles.
Would you encourage young people to pursue a career in this industry?Yes, it is a good sector, qualified and on par with any similar sector in Europe. It remains to be able to ensure conditions or remuneration that are up to par, although that is not bad either, compared to other sectors. In any case, I think that those who have already noticed or focus on it, are brought by their own will/passion. There are many brilliant young people today, but it is crucial an adequate and deep transfer of knowledge to new generations. The accumulated experience must be considered a treasure to take advantage of, in a global approach as well as in many areas of detail.
What message would you like to convey to the rest of your nuclear colleagues? and to non-nuclear peers?
As my father said: sun rises every day, and you have to hold on to it even through clouds. May we preserve self-criticism, rigor and the will to improve, and reject victimhood, inertia and biases as much as possible. Time usually proves what is right or wrong, and our mission is to be willing to learn and collaborate every day with a kind of shared spirit in each of our places and times, and so adapt, contribute, adding our best…
Can you tell us two hobbies?
I love music and literature, and any artistic and creative expression in general. I try to dedicate the short time remaining (apart from productive and personal-family time) to any recreational-creative activity, since I believe that it also generates an immediate psychological benefit (even more if it can be shared with other people).
And to get to know you a bit better: 1 book, 1 song (or music piece) and 1 movie.
Just and only 1 of each?!…Los Detectives Salvajes by Roberto Bolaño, The Symphony of Toys, by Edmund Angerer (years credited to Leopold Mozart or the Haydns), as a tribute to my father, who gave me the passion for music when I was a baby; and Les glanerus et la glaneuse, by Agnes Vardá.
Finally, to conclude, a wish for the future
For me and my People (and why not, also for the nuclear sector…) Health: intellectual, functional, economic…health. Vitality in summary.
