Director, Waste Disposal Division
Felix Altorfer studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, and obtained his doctorate in 1994 at the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering at the ETH Zurich. After working in the US for four years at the NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, he returned to Switzerland to undertake research at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source (SINQ) of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen.
In 2002, Felix Altorfer joined ENSI, where he worked as a Modeller in the Deep Geological Repositories section; in 2009, he became Head of the Deep Geological Repositories and Safety Analyses section. His work focused on safety calculations for the compilation of the assessment on proof of waste management for highly radioactive waste in the Zurich Weinland region, and on contributions to the assessment regarding the choice of sites in connection with the sectoral plan for geological repositories; this also covered the specific design principles for deep geological repositories and the requirements for proof of safety.
Felix Altorfer represents ENSI in the “Nuclear Waste Safety Committee” (NWSC) of the Finnish regulatory authority STUK and the Federal Working Group on Nuclear Waste Disposal (AGNEB).
Felix Altorfer, at the time Director of the Waste Management Division, was elected a member of the executive board on 1 September 2010. On 1 August 2012 he was nominated Director of the Staff of the Directorate, which comprises the Legal Affairs, International Affairs and Communication Sections.