[ RadSafe ] NRC ESTABLISHING OFFICE OF NEW REACTORS

[George J. Vargo]

NRC ESTABLISHING OFFICE OF NEW REACTORS, ADDITIONAL REGION II DEPUTY
REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reorganizing its Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation
(NRR) to create an Office of New Reactors (NRO) to ensure effective
oversight of operating nuclear
power plants and prepare for the industry's interest in licensing and
building new nuclear power plants
in the near term. The agency is also adding a new organizational unit,
headed by a Deputy Regional
Administrator for Construction in its Atlanta office, to oversee inspections
related to expected new
construction of nuclear facilities.
"This change will ensure we maintain our focus on the safe and secure
operation of existing
nuclear power plants, while enhancing our effectiveness in processing the
anticipated new plant
licensing workload," said Executive Director for Operations Luis Reyes.
The new Deputy Regional Administrator position and organizational unit in
Atlanta will focus
on the agency's Construction Inspection Program, which was announced earlier
this year. This program
will be responsible for the agency's oversight of any new nuclear power
plant construction for the
entire country. The reorganized Region II office will be better equipped to
carry out construction
inspection activities while maintaining its focus on ensuring safe operation
of nuclear power plants in
Region II.
The Office of New Reactors should be established by January 2007. NRO will
have full
responsibility for licensing and program oversight of new reactor
activities. NRR will retain full
responsibility for licensing and program oversight for activities related to
the current operating
reactors. The NRC is expecting several applications for new nuclear power
plants in late 2007 and
early 2008, with initial construction activities soon thereafter.