Holding a PhD in Reactor Physics, Irena Mele has more than 35 years of relevant working experience at national and international level in different nuclear areas – from spent fuel and radioactive waste management, decommissioning and environmental remediation to research reactors and nuclear power plants. As a manager of the Slovenian national Waste Management Organization she has been heavily engaged in establishing the national RWM infrastructure from building technical competences, developing national RWM strategy and RWM programme, development of siting approach for the disposal facilities, preparation of safety reports for nuclear facilities, decommissioning and spent fuel and waste disposal plan for the NPP to the implementation of various projects related to radioactive waste management facilities and activities. She was also involved in the development of legislation and regulations related to spent fuel and RWM.
At international level, she has been involved in different EU research projects. For almost 8 years she was working at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where she gained additional global perspective and international experience, from managerial to various technical aspects related to radioactive waste and spent fuel, decommissioning and environmental remediation in different countries. Currently she works as a consultant.