Full Name
Ximena Vásquez-Maignan
Job Title
Special Advisor & Nuclear Practice Lead
Company
White & Case LLP
Speaker Bio
Ximena Vásquez-Maignan is a project finance lawyer who has been working in the nuclear sector for more than twenty years. She specializes in nuclear law, with a particular expertise in nuclear liability. She advises governments and public organizations, investors, operators, equipment and service providers, as well as insurers, in the development and monitoring of nuclear projects worldwide.
She began her career in the international legal department of Veolia Water (1997 - 2003), and then moved to Beijing (China), where she worked for Electricité de France SA (EDF) (2003 - 2008) and an international law firm (2009 - 2010). She joined the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) as Senior Legal Adviser in 2011 and was Head of the Office of Legal Counsel from 2015 until 2022, when she joined White & Case. While at the NEA, Ximena provided secretariat services to the Nuclear Law Committee, a group of government representatives addressing nuclear law issues, and to the countries that are parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. She also participated in the meetings of the International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
She is a member of the International Nuclear Law Association (INLA), Women in Nuclear (WiN) and the French Nuclear Society (Société Française d’énergie nucléaire - Sfen). She has served as an expert on numerous working groups, such as those of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission, the World Nuclear Association (WNA), nucleareurope and the International Group of Legal Experts on Fusion Energy (FELEX). Ximena is the chair of the INLA Nuclear Liability & Insurance working group, the WNA End Energy Users Panel and the FELEX technical working group on Third-party liability arising from fusion facilities. She co-leads the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs group on Assessing the financing challenges of SMRs in the EU.
She has been invited to lecture on nuclear liability and nuclear law in general at different educational programs, including the International School of Nuclear Law and the International Nuclear Law Essentials of the NEA, the Nuclear Law Institute of the IAEA and several universities.
She began her career in the international legal department of Veolia Water (1997 - 2003), and then moved to Beijing (China), where she worked for Electricité de France SA (EDF) (2003 - 2008) and an international law firm (2009 - 2010). She joined the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) as Senior Legal Adviser in 2011 and was Head of the Office of Legal Counsel from 2015 until 2022, when she joined White & Case. While at the NEA, Ximena provided secretariat services to the Nuclear Law Committee, a group of government representatives addressing nuclear law issues, and to the countries that are parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. She also participated in the meetings of the International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
She is a member of the International Nuclear Law Association (INLA), Women in Nuclear (WiN) and the French Nuclear Society (Société Française d’énergie nucléaire - Sfen). She has served as an expert on numerous working groups, such as those of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission, the World Nuclear Association (WNA), nucleareurope and the International Group of Legal Experts on Fusion Energy (FELEX). Ximena is the chair of the INLA Nuclear Liability & Insurance working group, the WNA End Energy Users Panel and the FELEX technical working group on Third-party liability arising from fusion facilities. She co-leads the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs group on Assessing the financing challenges of SMRs in the EU.
She has been invited to lecture on nuclear liability and nuclear law in general at different educational programs, including the International School of Nuclear Law and the International Nuclear Law Essentials of the NEA, the Nuclear Law Institute of the IAEA and several universities.
