Kristine Svinicki will retire from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Jan. 21, more than a year before her five-year term is up, after serving under three presidents and leading the nuclear-power-plant regulator as chair since 2017.
Svinicki, first nominated to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush, has been commissioner since President Donald Trump’s early days in office, when she replaced Stephen Burns as the head of the five-person commission.
The NRC posted Svinicki’s full retirement statement to its website Monday.
Svinicki will finish her run at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as the longest-serving commissioner in history. Beyond NRC, the pro-Yucca Mountain Svinicki has 30 years of federal service in her wake, including on Capitol Hill. After her departure, the day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the commission will carry on with four members.
The commission may have no more than three members who belong to the same political party and Svinicki’s departure opens the door for Biden to flip the commission Democratic. Svinicki is a Republican, along with David Wright and Annie Caputo, who will remain on the commission. Commissioners Jeff Baran and Christopher Hanson are Democrats.
On Monday evening, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who presided over Svinicki’s third NRC confirmation hearing, congratulated the commissioner on a career.
“Kristine Svinicki has served as an outstanding chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” Barrasso wrote in a statement. “The Commission is essential to ensure American-made nuclear energy is safe and efficient. I want to thank Chairman Svinicki for her service to the country and for her partnership with our committee. Her leadership helped transform the agency so groundbreaking American-made nuclear technology can be deployed. Nuclear power is clean, constant, and critical to America’s success. ”
