Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Ho Nieh assured industry professionals at a Seattle advanced reactors summit that there’s no White House ‘takeover of NRC.’
SEATTLE—When President Donald Trump tabbed Ho Nieh to chair the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in December, it marked the third leadership change in less than six months at the nation’s nuclear licensing agency, including the unprecedented removal of a sitting commissioner.
The rapid turnover generated concern and criticism.
Nuclear energy opponents claimed the administration was sacrificing safety for speed. Investors waffled, fearing disarray.
Democrats accused the president of exploiting, if not exceeding, his executive authority in remolding the independent commission into a White House proxy.
None of it is true, Nieh told more than 400 nuclear industry professionals on Feb. 11 at the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council’s (USNIC’s) 13th annual Advanced Reactors Summit at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront.
“The NRC is still an independent agency,” he said.
“I want to just say that up front: there’s no takeover of NRC that I’ve experienced.
“No one from outside of the agency or other federal parts of the government [is] telling the NRC what decision to make. There’s no rubber-stamping.”
Nieh, who worked at the agency for more than 20 years, serving as director of its Nuclear Reactor Regulation unit before leaving in 2021, was among two commissioners appointed by the president in December to fill seats vacated by Christopher Hanson, who was fired in June after being removed as chair on the president’s first day in office, and Annie Caputo, who resigned in July.
Hanson, a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, and Caputo, a Republican appointed by Trump in 2017, were succeeded by Republicans Nieh and Douglas Weaver to serve five-year terms.
No more than three may be of the same political party.
Republican David Wright had been serving as chair since July before Nieh was appointed on Jan. 9. He remains on the commission.
By John Haughey
