Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will next week begin returning to their offices after months of near-total telework due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ninety-eight percent of the federal agency’s nearly 3,000 full-time employees have been working remotely since March to curb the potential spread of the viral disease. As of late May, only three cases had been confirmed within the NRC workforce.
In an internal memo distributed to staff on Monday, Executive Director for Operations Margaret Doane said the NRC on June 15 would begin Phase 1 of its reoccupancy plan, covering its Rockville, Md., headquarters, four regional offices, and training facility in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“At the outset, we will remain in mandatory telework status for 2 weeks during which time occupancy will gradually increase as individuals are notified that they will be returning to their NRC worksites, according to the memo obtained by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. “If you are not informed that you are included in Phase 1, then you will remain in mandatory telework status and continue to work remotely for the time being.”
On June 21, the regulator will shift to “maximum telework status,” Doane wrote. At that point, staff will need a formal agreement in place to conduct maximum telework. Flexibility will be given to personnel in certain situations, such as those among the vulnerable populations for COVID-19, as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; those who live with vulnerable people; and those providing dependent care.
All personnel are expected to review a 20-minute training presentation before returning to their jobsite, and no later than July 1.
Doane’s memo does not say when the agency expects to return to roughly normal staffing levels at NRC locations.
The Department of Energy is in the early stages of restaffing its headquarters buildings in the Washington, D.C., region, along with its various field offices. A small number of DOE headquarters personnel reported to work on Monday.
