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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303

No. II-00-04

January 25, 2000

NRC Chairman to Visit Summer Nuclear Plant

Dr. Richard Meserve, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will visit the South Carolina Electric & Gas-operated Summer nuclear power plant Thursday, January 27. Chairman Meserve will tour the plant and meet with SCE&G managers and staff. He will also meet with NRC resident inspectors responsible for the day-to-day inspection of the plant.

Chairman Meserve will meet with interested news media representatives at 4:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of the plant's Operations Building to discuss his visit and answer any questions reporters may have about NRC oversight of the plant. The Summer plant is located north of Columbia off Highway 215 near the town of Jenkinsville.

Dr. Meserve was sworn in as Chairman of the NRC on October 29. Prior to that, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling, having joined the firm in 1981. From 1977 to 1981, he served on the White House staff as legal counsel to the President's Science and Technology Advisor.

Holding degrees in law and physics, the NRC Chairman has focused on a wide range of issues during his career, including such matters as environmental law, nuclear licensing, counseling of high-tech companies and scientific societies, nuclear non-proliferation, and declassification.

Dr. Meserve received a B.A. from Tufts University (magna cum laude) in 1966, a J.D. from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) in 1975, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University in 1976. He served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court and before that to Judge Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

He served as chairman or a member of several National Academy of Sciences committees. For example, just before taking his new post, Dr. Meserve was chairman of the National Academy of Sciences committee seeking ways to bolster the protection of nuclear weapons-grade material in Russia.

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