Past NRC chairs to share views on future of nuclear

February 23, 2022, 12:00PMANS News

ANS will host a virtual event titled “Perspectives from Past Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairs" on Thursday, February 24, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.

The speakers: The webinar features four former high-ranking NRC leaders.

  • William Magwood (moderator), Director-General, Nuclear Energy Agency, NRC Commissioner 2010–2014
  • Richard Meserve, Senior of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP, NRC Chair 1999–2003
  • Dale Klein, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in the Office of Academic Affairs, The University of Texas System, NRC Chair 2006–2009
  • Stephen Burns, Senior Visiting Fellow, Third Way, NRC Chair 2015–2017

Register now. The event is complimentary and open to all.

Bipartisan legislation to accelerate nuclear innovation introduced in House

December 15, 2021, 7:00AMNuclear News

Luria

Gonzalez

Reps. Anthony Gonzalez (R., Ohio) and Elaine Luria (D., N.Y.) have again teamed up to launch bipartisan pronuclear legislation in the House. On December 7, with Luria as cosponsor, Gonzalez unveiled the Accelerating Nuclear Innovation through Fee Reform Act (H.R. 6154), aimed at accelerating innovation and catalyzing private sector investment in advanced nuclear reactor technologies by eliminating Nuclear Regulatory Commission review fees for advanced reactor license applications, which could reach tens of millions of dollars, disincentivizing developers from bringing new technologies to market.

Group calls for NRC licensing fee reform to spur advanced nuclear

May 20, 2021, 2:59PMNuclear News

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) yesterday released a report, Unlocking Advanced Nuclear Innovation: The Role of Fee Reform and Public Investment, arguing that a reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s user-fee model for new license applicants, combined with more funding for advanced reactor licensing and regulatory infrastructure, will unlock innovation and support U.S. leadership in advanced nuclear energy.

The 38-page report asserts that as currently structured, the NRC’s fee model inhibits carbon-free advanced nuclear innovation in two primary ways: First, it limits the agency’s resources, flexibility, and efficiency; and second, the open-ended costs associated with paying fees impose barriers to new entrants.

Former NRC chairs issue vaccine timeline recommendation to CDC

January 21, 2021, 2:59PMNuclear News

Five former chairmen of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Stephen Burns, Allison Macfarlane, Nils Diaz, Richard Meserve, and Dale Klein—signed a letter to José Romero, Arkansas health secretary and chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunization advisory committee, requesting that the advisory committee update its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine allocation guidance for the energy workforce (including nuclear energy workers).

Currently, the CDC has four phases for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Those phases are numbered:

  • 1a (the current phase), reserved for healthcare workers and those living in long-term care facilities;
  • 1b, reserved for people 75 years and older and frontline essential workers;
  • 1c, reserved for persons 65 to 74 years old, those aged 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, and other categories of essential workers (this includes energy workers); and
  • 2, for everyone else that was not named in the previous three phases aged 16 to 64.