The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is one step closer to having its executive committee back at full strength, as one of the agency’s two new top regulators took her oath of office this week, a spokesperson said.
Annie Caputo was sworn in as an NRC commissioner Tuesday, the agency said in a press release dated Thursday. Caputo, who previously served on the commission before leaving in June 2021 at the end of her term, will join NRC’s three current commissioners: chair Christopher Hanson and commissioners Jeff Baran and David Wright.
Bradley Crowell, the White House’s second nominee to NRC, should be sworn in “early next week,” an agency spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor via email Wednesday.
Both Caputo, a Republican, and Crowell, a Democrat were confirmed by the Senate in July on a voice vote.
Once Crowell is sworn in, NRC will be back at a full complement of five commissioners — a position the U.S.’s nuclear safety regulator has not been in since Caputo’s departure last year.
“I am delighted to welcome Brad and welcome back Annie to the Commission,” Hanson said in Thursday’s statement. “Our agency has worked best with five Commissioners, and now we have them.”
Hanson told RadWaste Monitor in December during an exclusive interview that while NRC worked effectively with only three commissioners, he was looking forward to having two new colleagues. “Congress, in its wisdom, created the body with five and and having the additional perspectives on board is exceptionally helpful,” he said.
Since leaving NRC in 2021, Caputo had been consulting with the Idaho National Laboratory on international cooperation for advanced nuclear reactors. She also advised the Senate Armed Services Committee on issues related to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s infrastructure.
Crowell was the director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, a position that he’s held since 2016. Crowell was also assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Energy under the Barack Obama administration. Prior to that, he worked for both Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and former Nevada governor and Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.).
By law, no more than three of NRC’s top regulators may belong to the same political party. Among the current commissioners, Hanson and Baran are Democrats and Wright is a Republican.
