All three sitting members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are scheduled to speak Tuesday on the first day of the agency’s 30th Regulatory Information Conference.
Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki will offer the keynote speech to start off the conference Tuesday morning, followed by separate “commissioner plenaries” from Commissioners Jeff Baran and Stephen Burns. While Baran’s topic is not specified on the NRC’s conference program agenda, Burns is scheduled to discuss “adapting the regulatory process to meet new challenges.”
Following the Tuesday morning presentations by the commissioners and senior NRC officials, the remainder of the three-day event will largely consist of technical sessions on a long list of topics, including: the current state and future of the fuel cycle industry; transformation at the NRC; emergency preparedness; low-level radioactive waste; new nuclear power reactors; nuclear security; and advanced reactors.
“This will be NRC’s 30th annual RIC — the largest technical meeting sponsored by the NRC – bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders to learn, share, and discuss information on significant, timely and emerging regulatory activities,” according to the agency.
The conference is being held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road in Rockville. Online registration has closed, but on-site registration is available starting at 3 p.m. Monday. The conference will also be webcast.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has up to five members, but two seats remain vacant even after President Donald Trump last June nominated South Carolina energy consultant David Wright and House staffer Annie Caputo to the positions. Both nominees are waiting for votes from the full Senate, but Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is reported to have placed a hold on Caputo related to the lawmaker’s opposition to the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in his state.
