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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 97-108

July 25, 1997

Ashok C. Thadani, currently Director of the NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, will become the agency's acting Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Effectiveness, effective August 3.

Mr. Thadani will succeed Edward L. Jordan, who is retiring.

Dr. Malcolm R. Knapp has been appointed acting Director of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. He is currently Deputy Director of the NRC Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards. His appointment also is effective August 3.

The managerial changes were announced by L. Joseph Callan, NRC Executive Director for Operations.

Mr. Thadani, a chemical engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee with a master's degree from Catholic University of America, has held progressively more responsible positions since beginning government service in 1974 as a reactor engineer for NRC's predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission. He was named to head the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research last month after several years' service as associate director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Dr. Knapp has been Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards for more than two years. Since first joining NRC in 1979, he has held several key supervisory posts related to radioactive waste management. For three years, he was director of the Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards in NRC Region I, King of Prussia, Pa.

Dr. Knapp holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate from Carnegie-Mellon University, all in chemical engineering. Before joining NRC, he worked for the General Electric Co. in corporate research and development.

Mr. Jordan, a veteran of 28 years' service with both NRC and the Atomic Energy Commission, has been Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Effectiveness since the position was created in January as part of a major agency reorganization. His retirement takes effect on Friday, Aug. 1. The official in this post -- one of three deputies to Mr. Callan -- is responsible for the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, Office of Investigations, and Office of Enforcement.

At the time of his appointment in January, Mr. Jordan for nearly 10 years had headed the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data. NRC activities he has influenced during his career include the resident inspector program, incident response and emergency preparedness, the diagnostic evaluation and incident investigation programs, and the system of licensee performance indicators.

Mr. Jordan earned the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive in 1992; the Presidential Rank of Meritorious in 1987 and 1996; and the NRC Meritorious and Distinguished Service Awards in 1987 and 1992. He is a graduate of Northwestern Louisiana State University with a degree in physics and mathematics, and did graduate work in nuclear engineering at Southern Methodist University. Before beginning government service, he worked in reactor design, testing and operation at the General Dynamics Nuclear Aerospace Research Facility in Fort Worth, Texas.