The Biden administration selected Commissioner Christopher Hanson to become the 18th chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency announced last week.
Hanson, one of the four current commissioners, is chairman effective immediately, according to an agency press release. He replaces former chair Kristine Svinicki, who left the commission on Jan. 20.
“I look forward to building on Chairman Svinicki’s many accomplishments as the Commission takes on new challenges and faces new opportunities as nuclear energy technologies continue to evolve and uses of nuclear materials expand in the future,” Hanson said in the press release.
Prior to his swearing in as commissioner in June 2020, Hanson was a staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee overseeing nuclear programs in 2015. He was also a senior adviser at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy in 2013.
The commission still only has four of its five possible members. Two members, including Hanson, are Democrats and two are Republicans. The Biden administration had not nominated anyone to fill the vacancy at deadline Friday. The nominee will need Senate confirmation.
