The Canadian Association of Small Modular Reactors (CASMR) and the SMR Forum have established the Rumina Velshi Nuclear Leadership Award and the Rumina Velshi Fellowship. The announcement was made on October 13, 2026, from Calgary. Both initiatives are named after the former President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
The award will be presented annually to a senior executive who has made an exceptional contribution to Canada’s nuclear leadership, at home and abroad. The fellowship, by contrast, looks to emerging talent: it supports those building careers in the sector and moving toward senior roles, with particular attention to women. CASMR and SMR Forum are committing $50,000 over five years, or $10,000 a year, for the Fellowship alone.
The initiatives were launched during the third edition of Pioneering New Nuclear in Western Canada, held in September. The forum brought together representatives from government, industry, utilities, finance, regulators, Indigenous organizations and the international nuclear community to discuss the next chapter of Canada’s new nuclear build.
Velshi has more than forty years of experience in the sector. She led the CNSC for five years, after serving as a commissioner for seven. She currently sits on the boards of SaskPower and Hydro Ottawa, chairs the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s high-level group on stakeholder engagement and trust, and is a member of the IAEA Director General’s advisory group on nuclear safety. She also works with Japan’s nuclear regulator. In 2023 she received the Icon of Nuclear Award, and she holds an honorary doctorate in science and engineering from McMaster University.
Erveina Gosalci, founder and CEO of CASMR and CEO of SMR Forum, explained the thinking behind the move. If Canada wants to remain a global reference point in nuclear, she said, it must invest not only in projects and technology but in the people who will lead the sector in the next generation. In Gosalci’s view, the award and the fellowship reflect the two sides of Velshi’s legacy: her work on the country’s international standing and her steady focus on young professionals.
Velshi herself put more weight on the Fellowship. The award recognizes the leaders who bring Canada’s nuclear ambitions to fruition, she noted, but those senior enough to win it rarely need it. The people leading Canada’s fifth, and perhaps sixth and seventh, new reactor projects are likely to be in their twenties or just beyond today. Many of them work in an environment where they may feel like a minority.
Canada has several small modular reactor projects in the pipeline, and demand for engineers, operators, project managers and safety experts will grow with them. A $10,000 annual fellowship is a modest sum. But if CASMR and SMR Forum can turn it into a regular fixture, the list of winners and fellows could become a map of Canada’s future nuclear executives.
