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The transformation of the NRC: 50 years of commissioners
The dust is beginning to settle following the whirlwind of changes at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the past year, and 2025 ultimately may be viewed as a transformative year, as well as the year the NRC celebrated its golden anniversary. The 12 months of that milestone year brought more change to the agency in its composition, its mandate, and its relationship to the executive branch than any comparable period in the preceding four decades.
Now at 51 years and counting, the NRC is working with a full commission and issuing new rulemakings to both regulate and support the next round of nuclear deployments. With the turbulence of 2025 still fresh in our minds, Nuclear News decided it was a good time to revisit the professional backgrounds of all 42 NRC commissioners who have served over the agency’s 50-year history to see how the composition of the commission has evolved over time.
2021 ANS Annual Meeting Plenary SPeaker
Jeff Lyash is president and chief executive officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Appointed by the Board of Directors in February 2019, Lyash leads the nation’s largest public utility in its mission of serving the people of the Tennessee Valley to make life better.
Before coming to TVA, Lyash served since 2015 as president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation Inc., one of the largest electric generating companies in Canada with a diverse fleet of nuclear, hydroelectric, gas, biomass and renewable generating stations.
Lyash was formerly the president of CB&I Power where he was responsible for a full range of engineering, procurement and construction of multi-billion-dollar electric generation projects in both domestic and international markets. He also provided operating plant services for nuclear, coal, gas, oil and renewable generation.
Prior to joining CB&I, Lyash served as executive vice president of Energy Supply for Duke Energy where he led engineering, maintenance and operations of the company’s 42,000-megawatt generation fleet, fuel procurement, power trading, major projects and construction, environmental programs, and health and safety programs.
Before the merger of Progress Energy and Duke Energy, Lyash was executive vice president of Energy Supply for Progress Energy. In this role, he oversaw Progress Energy’s diverse 22,000-megawatt fleet of generating resources including nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas and hydroelectric stations. In addition, Lyash was responsible for generating fleet fuel procurement and power trading operations.
Lyash joined Progress Energy in 1993. Before leading the Energy Supply division at Progress, he served as executive vice president of corporate development, president and chief executive officer of Progress Energy Florida, senior vice president of Energy Delivery Florida, and vice president of Transmission.
Lyash also held a wide range of management and executive roles in Progress Energy’s nuclear program, including operations manager, engineering manager, plant manager, and director of site operations.
Lyash began his career in the utility industry in 1981 and worked for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in senior technical and management positions throughout the Northeast and in Washington, D.C. He received the NRC Meritorious Service Award in 1987.
Lyash earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University, and was honored with the Drexel University Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009. He has held a senior reactor operator license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and is a graduate of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Executive Training Program and the Duke Fuqua School of Business Advanced Management Program.
Lyash is an avid golfer and fly fisher. He and his wife, Tracy, enjoy cooking, skiing, reading and charitable work – and spending time with their two married children and nine grandchildren. The Lyashes live in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Last modified April 21, 2021, 3:21pm EDT
