August, 2011

The NRC’s Technical Training Center, located in Chattanooga, Tenn., recently hosted 12 young scientists and engineers who were children and friends of NRC employees. The training center includes several state-of-the-art classrooms and – most importantly...

The weather is perfect in King of Prussia, Pa., today. The sun is shining; the humidity is low; a slight breeze is blowing. It’s quite different from over the weekend when Hurricane Irene roared through the area, bringing with it high winds and heavy...

Hurricane Irene lingered in the Mid-Atlantic Saturday like a dinner guest who wouldn’t leave, soaking the region with rain and pounding it with wind. Throughout the storm, the NRC has kept watch over the nuclear power plants in her path. Initial reports...

Hurricane Irene has affected one NRC-related meeting for certain, and the staff has provided additional details for another meeting. Due to the expected effects of Hurricane Irene, the National Academy of Sciences has canceled its Aug. 29 meeting on the...

As Hurricane Irene roars up the East Coast, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has prepared for the challenge and awaits landfall. The annual hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and the NRC staff routinely tracks each storm from formation...

A day after an unusual earthquake in Virginia, the NRC continues to assess operations at the North Anna nuclear power plant, which is a few miles from the epicenter. The plant had originally declared an Alert, the second-lowest of four emergency classifications...

The NRC will begin sending news and information via Twitter beginning today. The NRC Twitter account can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/NRCgov or through the NRC website. Tweets will announce new press releases, speeches, reports, public meeting...

Robert Carlson, a branch chief in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, is also a Brigadier General Select in the U.S. Army Reserves. In May, he was called to active duty to serve as the chief of staff for the U.S. Agency for International Development...

After graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in Spring 2011, I was fortunate enough to be hired as a summer intern at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. My experience at the NRC so far has been everything...

The NRC issues licenses that allow nuclear power plants to operate for up to 40 years – a time frame originally chosen for economic and antitrust considerations, not technical limitations. Because of that, we also allow plants to operate for an additional...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently reached two milestones related to the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, but we’re still months away from any final decisions on these matters. The first milestone deals with the NRC’s review of the design...

The Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) is an official advisory committee that comments on changes to NRC medical regulations and guidance. The committee also evaluates certain non-routine uses of radioactive material, provides...

It’s been almost five months since the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan, but the phones still ring and letters and e-mails still arrive at the NRC. Although the level of worry has declined, concerns remain. Some members of the...

The NRC works hard to recruit and employ people with disabilities. We work with community outreach groups, advertise positions in a variety of publications of interest to those with disabilities, and participate in career fairs sponsored by organizations...

The U.S. government – including the NRC – continues to support Japan as that country works to recover from the tragic effects of the March earthquake tsunami. The NRC continues to monitor events at Fukushima Daiichi and maintains a small team of experts...