Lepo je, da ob mednarodnem dnevu žena izpostavimo vlogo in dosežke žensk, četudi bi bilo prav, da bi to storili pogosteje. Vsak dan sem ponosna na sodelavke, ki v vsej pisani paleti različnih disciplin in timov s svojim znanjem in zavzetim delom prispevajo k skupnim uspehom Nuklearne elektrarne Krško. Tudi na področju z jedrsko energijo povezanih strok je pomen znanja in delovanja žensk danes nesporen, kot je bil od samih začetkov. Marie Curie, pionirka na področju raziskovanja sevanja, je bila leta 1911 prva prejemnica Nobelove nagrade ter ena izjemno redkih, ki je to nagrado dobila za dve različni znanstveni področji. Danes bi bila zagotovo zadovoljna z razvojem jedrske energetike in tudi s široko uporabo ionizirajočih sevanj na področju medicine. Ob izjemnih dosežkih na znanstveno-raziskovalnem področju je namreč med prvo svetovno vojno za oskrbo vojakov na fronti organizirala mobilne sanitetne enote z radioaktivnimi preparati in poučevala osebje. Mislim, da bi se tudi njej zdelo prav, da bi bila – po štirih desetletjih obratovanja nuklearke in po dobrem stoletju od odkritja radioaktivnosti kot naravnega pojava ter ob dejstvu, da se skoraj vsaka slovenska družina srečuje z ionizirajočim sevanjem v diagnostiki ali zdravljenju –, temeljna znanja o radioaktivnosti del rednih izobraževalnih programov naših osnovnih in srednjih šol.

Izbira poklica mora biti za žensko najprej in predvsem njena prava izbira. Če nekaj delaš z navdušenjem in veseljem, potem tudi veliko lažje premaguješ ovire, ki so sestavni del sleherne resne poklicne poti. Podobno kot v drugih kemijskih laboratorijih so tudi v našem prisotne potencialno nevarne snovi. Zato ni nobeno presenečenje, da ženska v času nosečnosti ne more več opravljati vseh obveznosti, kot jih je lahko pred tem. V tistem obdobju je zato ključno dobro sodelovanje med kolegi. Pri tem mislim predvsem na medsebojno zaupanje, spoštovanje in učinkovito komunikacijo. Včasih pozabimo ali pa si morda celo težko priznamo, kako smo različni.  A nedvomno bo k temu, kako se lotevamo reševanja problemov in opravljanja nalog, nekaj prispeval tudi naš biološki spol. Čeprav se pri tem ne želim oklepati stereotipnih prepričanj o nujni ženski čustvenosti,  pa sem iz osebne izkušnje prepričana, da je najbolje delati ravno v mešanem kolektivu. V takih kombinacijah smo namreč vsi nekoliko bolj sproščeni in posledično tudi precej bolj učinkoviti. Pred leti mi je neki starejši kolega priznal, da sem s svojim prihodom popestrila njihov vsakdan v moškem brlogu. Ne dvomim, da je bila ta drugačna predvsem pozitivna izkušnja za nas vse.

Z ravnanjem z radioaktivnimi odpadki, kar tudi spada na jedrsko področje, se ukvarjam že dobrih 20 let. Pred tem sem delovala kot raziskovalka v svoji matični stroki – biologiji in kot biologinja na dveh popolnoma različnih področjih – celični biologiji z elektronsko mikroskopijo in varstvu okolja.

Ali je dejstvo, da sem ženska, kaj vplivalo na možnosti in odločitve v zvezi s poklicem z menjavanjem strokovnih področij? Verjetno je, čeprav mi ta ugotovitev ni najbolj všeč. Ko pri delu naletiš na precej nerazumljive ovire, ki jih težko povežeš z rezultati dela, in če si želiš še nekaj razvoja, začneš pač iskati alternativne možnosti. Mogoče se je to dogajalo tudi moškim kolegom, to vedo oni. Družba, družina in služba sicer deklarirajo, da so ženske in moški enakopravni, se mi pa zdi, da se enakopravnost v marsikaterih poklicih pogosto enači z enakostjo. Poklici v znanosti, raziskavah in tehnologiji pri tem niso nobena izjema. V skrajnem primeru torej velja – če smo si enaki, smo tudi enakopravni. Seveda pa nismo vsi enaki ...  In ko v raznolikosti ne prepoznamo priložnosti za nove ideje in napredek, izgubljamo danes in bodo izgubile generacije v prihodnosti.

Kdo ve, ali bi se razvoj jedrske znanosti in tehnologije sploh usmeril v razvoj jedrskega orožja, s katerim vojaški svet zadnje dni spet rožlja, če bi bila približno polovica jedrskih strokovnjakov ženskega spola? Kdo ve, ali bi potrebovali več desetletij, preden bi se resno lotili ravnanja z radioaktivnimi odpadki, če bi bilo v raziskovalnih in razvojnih skupinah že od začetka bistveno več žensk?

Torej, drage kolegice in kolegi, čim večkrat, ne samo ob 8. marcu, se spomnimo na slogan »Vsi drugačni – vsi enakopravni« - živimo vendarle v 21. stoletju …

»Čast mi je, da je moja vloga in vloga mojih sodelavk v jedrski industriji medijsko prepoznavna, ter, da ob priložnosti, kot je dan žena, vzamemo nekaj časa za poudarek pomembnosti ženske vloge tudi v profesionalni sferi našega življenja. Ženske imamo v družbi veliko vlog. Smo mame, vzgojiteljice, partnerke, negovalke in tudi strokovnjakinje. Moje strokovno področje je jedrska energetika. Stroka, ki zahteva resen pristop, nenehno učenje in usposabljanje, timsko delo ter motiviranost za odličnost na vseh področjih, ki jih zajema. V svoji trenutni vlogi vodilne inštruktorice za usposabljanje obratovalnega osebja Nuklearne elektrarne Krško sem šele spoznala, kako široko je dejansko področje jedrske energetike. Podedovali smo jo od generacij pred nami in pustili jo bomo kot dediščino generacijam za nami kot enega največjih uspehov moderne znanosti. Naša naloga zato je, da jo uporabljamo v miroljubne namene, še naprej razvijamo in o njej učimo svoje otroke – bodoče jedrske strokovnjake. In v vseh teh vlogah pa so vsekakor ženske tiste, ki lahko veliko pripomorejo. Srečen dan žena želim vsem bralkam in bralcem!«

»Sem vesela in ponosna, da sem prva in za zdaj edina inženirka na področju instrumentacijskega vzdrževanja v Nuklearni elektrarni Krško. Biti ženska v močnem moškem kolektivu ni vedno lahko, ima pa tudi svoje prednosti. Ko si obkrožen s sodelavci, ki te podpirajo in motivirajo, da iz sebe daš najboljše, kar lahko, nobeno delo ni težko. Želja po znanju, raziskovanju in reševanju problemov, ki se najdejo na poti, je vedno prisotna pri mojem delu; mislim, da drugače ne bi mogla delati. Včasih se ženskam ni bilo enostavno ukvarjati z znanostjo. Če pogledamo v ne tako davno preteklost, ženske niso imele veljave, njihove dosežke pa so zanemarjali. A tiste, ki so vztrajale na svojih področjih in verjele, da ni nepremagljivih preprek, so zapustile neizbrisno sled. To ne pomeni, da npr. brez Lise Meitner nikoli ne bi odkrili jedrske cepitve, je pa dokaz, da so ženske izjemne tudi na znanstvenih in tehničnih področjih. Celo danes je delež žensk na teh področjih nižji, kot bi pričakovali. Že po naravi se prej odločajo za družboslovne kot za tehnične znanosti. Včasih je težko zaznati priložnosti. S svojim zgledom pa lahko pokažemo mlajšim generacijam, da priložnosti obstajajo, da ni omejitev pri izbiri želenega poklica. Nedavno sem imela priložnost obiskati muzej Thomasa Edisona in Henryja Forda; v spominu mi je ostala izjava: Whether you think you can or can't, you are right. Če verjamemo, se lahko zgodijo izjemne stvari.«

Pogovarjali smo se z Emilio Janizs, upravljalko zunanjih odnosov na  Evropskem združenju jedrskih strokovnjakov, družboslovko, ki se je po več letih dela v jedrski industriji popolnoma “nuklearizirala”. Intervju je v angleščini.

You’re the External Relations Manager at European Nuclear Society and have been active in the nuclear field, a field largely dominated by men, for quite some time now, however, your background is in fact not in the nuclear or even STEM sector. Can you tell us something about your academic background and how you ended up in the nuclear sector?

This is the beauty of the nuclear sector. You can study European Studies and social sciences, as it was in my case, and you end up in the largest nuclear society for science and technology.  After almost 11 years of professional experience, visiting several NPPs, graduating from IAEA and JRC summer schools I can say I’m nuclearised (official category of OECD/NEA report)

Did you always have an interest in nuclear energy, or has it developed throughout time and work?

I graduated i.a. from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where we had classes in nanotechnology or robotics. It helped me to develop a general interest for STEM subjects but answering your question, I was not particularly interested in nuclear energy until I applied to my first professional position at ENS, as Junior Scientific Officer.

Nuclear energy is a wide and complex topic, maybe, even more, some for someone from a non-nuclear background. Did you find it difficult to enter this field? What other challenges did you face?

I’m still discovering new things about this technology and I’m constantly learning. Of course, the beginning was not easy. My first task was to co-organise a scientific conference for 1000 persons in Barcelona, where I was more responsible for logistics than content. What helped me a lot were conversations with the scientists at our conferences about the projects. The nuclear community is very open-minded and I feel the nuclear professionals are always happy to share knowledge with younger generation.

When we think about jobs in the nuclear sector, we usually think about more technological or engineering areas of work. Your area of work is communication and PR. Could you share with us what activities are included in your day-to-day job? Is it difficult navigating the world of communication in the nuclear field?

I have several roles and tasks. We have 21 national societies and 30 corporate members. One of my task is to be aware of the members activities so we can present it externally to the public. I am co-leader of the Nuclear for Climate movement bringing almost 150 nuclear associations worldwide, who believe that nuclear is crucial to reach net zero emissions by 2050. It is all about communications – strategy, right audience, messages and communications tools. Another important task is to keep and develop new relationships with relevant international organisations like IAEA, OECD/NEA, JRC or WNA (MoU signed in December 2021). I take care also of our monthly scientific webinars and in-house groups like High Scientific Council and Young Generation Network.

Communication plays a big role in most areas, but especially in the nuclear field, which is often facing divisive opinions, misconceptions, and negative press. This is mostly the result of a lack of knowledge and understanding of the field. What does the ENS do to improve this and how can nuclear scientists help with these challenges?

We believe education is the main tool to fight against myths about nuclear and as a learned society we have a special role to play in it. Therefore, we support members’ activities in their educational activities, like scientific picnics, interactive physics schools classes or stand up for nuclear actions. Secretariat of ENS has a dedicated website with nuclear basics and if there is a need of scientific explanation on nuclear matters, we activate our experts and share the information on different communications channels,  e.g. experts comments on HBO popular series on Chernobyl or the recent situation with the Ukrainian NPPs. Public society is looking for information and our aim is to gain their trust with scientific based facts but provided in a comprehensive way. This is where scientists and communicators need to work closely together.

Nuclear power has a major role to play in the clean energy transition. How can we strengthen the public perception of the benefits of nuclear energy? How should we communicate?

I am still surprised how little public knows about all advantages of nuclear energy. The climate change became a hot topic in the last seven years and our role is to put a new light on nuclear as baseload, 24/7 reliable and almost carbon-free energy source. I think the most important is to put the arguments into a new perspective. There is no technology, which has no waste, doesn’t use land or raw materials. If we want to digitalize our economy in a most environment friendly way we need to apply all low-carbon options. I didn’t see yet a realistic 100% renewables strategy for the EU. The messages need to be adapted to all public groups and answer their fears or local context (like e.g. water scarcity, electricity poverty etc.)

There’s a growing interest and discussion about women in science, with many women becoming more prominent. Have you noticed a growth in the number of women working in the nuclear field, particularly in the more technical and engineering positions? Would you say international (and national) activities to get the young girls into STEM subjects are paying off? What can still be improved?

Indeed I observe this trend and as a women’s rights activists I am very happy to witness this. I think girls have always been interested in STEM subjects but were very often discouraged already at early stages from following their interests. According to the World Economic Forum we will be able to close the gender gap worldwide in 136 years. To speed up the process the companies, EU institutions, governments and international organizational are responsible for introduction of quotas which would enable women to take a seat in boards, take equal part in decision making process and follow their career path without restrictions. In our nuclear sector the IAEA and OECD/NEA set the standards already with a special programme for young female scientists and leaders. I very much hope that inclusive approach of our sector, where women are equally paid, promoted, sent to conferences, invited to speak in panels will be seen soon as mandatory objective and not only political correctness. If I’m looking for female expert for our webinars, I am addressing local Women in Nuclear chapters.

What in your opinion is the added value of having gender equality in nuclear industry or any technical industry?

Study shows that a gender-balanced working environment helps industries to grow and make more profit (up to 35% more return on equity). It also stimulates innovation which is crucial in our sector, both on business and research ends.

From the legal perspective, the European Commission set in 2020 a Gender Equality Strategy with binding directives to be applied across the labour market including research.

Our sector is very specific and the statistics show that more women are afraid of nuclear radiation than men. This is another argument to have a gender balance staff, who can with knowledge and expertise address all the issues.

Role models can play an important role in getting younger people interested in different areas and subjects. Did you and do you maybe still have any role models in the nuclear field?

Yes, in our still male dominated sector I met a few female professionals who inspired me and from whom I could learn. Over the past ten years from freshly graduated I became manager, chairperson, expert and panelist speaker and many of my colleagues I met on my way had a strong influence on who I am today. As mother of three kids I observe also a few female leaders, who brilliantly combine the motherhood and professional life.