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Board Of Directors

Conexus' Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from Conexus's voting members – organizations whose investments in Conexus meets a threshold warranting additional oversight and input into organizational direction. Members of the Board are from Ontario Pow​er Generation (OPG), Bruce Power, New Brunswick Power (NB Power), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN, Romania).

The Board provides oversight and due diligence in a number of areas including business direction, mission and strategy; a number of management systems and human resource oversights as well as corporate risk, member relationships and communications.​

Gary Newman

Senior Vice President Engineering & Chief Engineer
Bruce Power

The current chair of the Conexus board, Gary Newman, has continuously demonstrated leadership in fuel channel life management research and industry collaboration on engineering joint project through his career. Following the passage of the 1998 Energy Competition Act, Gary helped Ontario Hydro restructure into five separate entities. Before joining Bruce Power, where he has responsibility for major component replacement and fuel channel replacement, Gary was a key player in what is now AMEC Foster Wheeler. He is the past chair and a current participant on the Equipment Reliability Oversight Committee at INPO, Vice-chair of UNENE and past board member of AMEC Foster Wheeler.

Emily Tarle

Vice President of Advanced Inspection & Maintenance
Ontario Power Generation

Emily Tarle has more than 20 years of experience in nuclear operations, project delivery, and engineering management. She has led large teams delivering inspection, maintenance, and technical services across OPG’s nuclear and non-nuclear facilities, and has contributed her expertise through advisory roles with the INPO National Academy for Nuclear Training and the Darlington New Nuclear Review Board. A strong advocate for diversity in STEM, she mentors women in the industry and engages with organizations such as Women in Nuclear and The Prosperity Project. In 2021, she was recognized as one of WXN’s Top 100 Canada’s Most Powerful Women, and she joined the Conexus Board in 2025.

John Osborne

Vice President, Central Technical Authority & Chief Nuclear Officer
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

John Osborne is Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Vice President, Central Technical Authority and Chief Nuclear Officer, with more than 25 years of experience across Canada’s nuclear sector. In this role, he oversees nuclear operations, regulatory compliance, engineering, safeguards, and safety culture, and maintains CNL’s primary regulatory interface with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. John has held senior leadership roles across maintenance, radiation protection, emergency preparedness, and nuclear operations at CNL, and previously served as Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s (AECL) Vice President for Capital Programs, Operations & Security, supporting major site revitalization initiatives and safe, secure operations across AECL-owned sites. Earlier in his career, he served 15 years in the Royal Canadian Navy in senior engineering and operational roles. He joined the Conexus Board in 2026. 

Jason Nouwens

Director, External AffairsNew Brunswick Power

Jason Nouwens is the Director, External Affairs based at New Brunswick Power's (NB Power) Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. He brings nearly 25 years of nuclear experience to the Conexus Board. Nouwens joined the board in May 2021 as NB Power's representative. Nouwens first joined Point Lepreau in 1997, as a member of the systems engineering team, where he served in a number of supervisory and management roles for more than a decade. In 2014, Nouwens transitioned to the regulatory affairs (RA) team as manager before being appointed director, regulatory affairs and performance improvement in 2016. He served in that role until appointment as Director, External Affairs in 2021.

​Dumitru Benchea

Engineering Director
Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica, Romania

Dumitru Benchea is SNN's Engineering Director with 20 years of experience in various positions at Cernavoda Nuclear. He started in his current role in December 2020 and oversees areas including systems, components and design engineering as well as capital projects and IT. Benchea also leads station committees in the areas of design modification and condition reporting, among others. Prior to his current role, Benchea served as Cernavoda's Systems Engineering Senior Superintendent and spent six years in a similar role focused on design and technical support. He also worked for nine years (2002-2011) as a design engineer at Cernavoda. Benchea studied electrical engineering at Dunarea de Jos University in Galati, Romania. He joined the Conexus board in January 2021.