Ohio created a new state Nuclear Development Authority this month that aims to make the state a research and development hub for advanced reactors and radioactive-waste-handling equipment, among other things.
The new nine-member agency, created by the legislature as part of a 2024 state budget bill approved July 3, includes three tiers of members appointed by the governor. The budget also created a new Ohio state liaison to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The liaison is a gubernatorial appointee.
In bill language, state lawmakers said that the Ohio Nuclear Development Authority should be a “leader in the development and construction of new-type advanced-nuclear-research-reactors” and “a leader in the research and development of high-level-nuclear-waste-reduction and storage technology.”
Ohio lawmakers wanted to create a complicated scheme for appointing people to the new development authority, including a nomination committee to vet potential members, but Gov. Mark DeWine (R) used his line-veto power to strike those proposals for the version of the budget that became law last week. DeWine also struck a provision that would have forced members to serve with no pay.
The Ohio state Senate must approve anyone the governor’s nominates to serve on the authority. Members will serve five-year terms. Any member nominated to fill an unexpired term must serve out the remaining term and then be renominated.
DeWine’s explanation of his line-item vetos appears on page 15 of his veto statement. Bill language describing the new development authority’s powers, along with a list of legislative proposals about the authority that DeWine vetoed, appears throughout the governor’s collection of disapproved language, including on pages 94 and 99.
The authority’s three membership tiers are safety, industry and engineering research and development. The bill did not prescribe a minimum number of representatives from each tier.
There are several academic and professional requirements to serve in each membership tier, according to the bill.
Members of the safety tier, for example, need at least a bachelor’s degree in nuclear, mechanical, chemical or electrical engineering. Professional requirements range from recognition as a “professional in nuclear-reactor safety” or “developing ISO 9000 standards. Other qualifying professional experience includes past employment or work with the U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission or a nuclear-industry contractor.
Members of the industry tier need at least five years of professional experience in nuclear power plant operations, isotope production and extraction, management of a facility handling hazardous nuclear or chemical substances, or the handling and storage of radioactive waste, according to the bill.
Members of the engineering research tier need the same academic qualifications as members of the safety tier, plus experiences with materials science, one of several branches of chemistry, including actinide chemistry, instrumentation and sensors and control systems, the bill says.
