The full Senate this week confirmed the White House’s nominees to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, bringing the nuclear safety regulator’s executive committee to five members for the first time in over a year.
Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, who the upper chamber approved to become NRC commissioners on a voice vote Tuesday night, will step into two vacant seats on the commission that have been empty since Caputo herself left NRC in June 2021 at the end of her five-year term. Now confirmed, both new commissioners can serve until 2027.
Since leaving NRC in 2021, Caputo, a Republican, 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, a Democrat, 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 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.).
As of Thursday, the new commissioners had yet to be sworn in, an NRC spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor via email.
Nuclear professional organization the American Nuclear Society Wednesday applauded the Senate for approving Crowell and Caputo.
“A full five-member commission is essential to the effectiveness of the NRC in protecting public health and safety while enabling the deployment and applications of new nuclear technologies,” organization president Steven Arndt and CEO Craig Piercy said in a statement. “The American Nuclear Society has consistently highlighted the need for a full commission of qualified individuals, preferably with strong technical education and backgrounds.”
Current NRC commissioner Jeff Baran also chimed in on Twitter Wednesday to welcome his new colleagues.
Congrats to Brad Crowell and Annie Caputo on their Senate confirmations last night. I look forward to working with them both!
— Jeff Baran (@JeffBaranNRC) August 3, 2022
NRC is currently led by chair Christopher Hanson, a Democrat. Also on the commission are Baran, a Democrat, and David Wright, a Republican. By law, NRC cannot have more than three members of the same political party.
