Nuclear Reactor Regulation
On this Page:
- Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
- Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis Staff
- Division of Safety Systems
- Division of Engineering
- Division of Risk Assessment
- Division of License Renewal
- Division of Operating Reactor Licensing
- Division of Inspection and Regional Support
- Division of Policy and Rulemaking
Eric Leeds , Director
Jennifer Uhle, Deputy Director for Reactor Safety Programs
Daniel Dorman, Deputy Director for Engineering and Corporate Support
NRR is responsible for accomplishing key components of the NRC's nuclear reactor safety mission. As such, NRR conducts a broad range of regulatory activities in the four primary program areas of rulemaking, licensing, oversight, and incident response for commercial nuclear power reactors, and test and research reactors to protect the public health, safety, and the environment. NRR works with the regions and other offices to accomplish its mission and contribute to the agency mission.
Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis Staff
Director: (Vacant)
Deputy Director: (Vacant)
Leads the office's budget formulation, execution, and contracting activities. Provides oversight and coordination in infrastructure space, principal correspondence, and records management. Maintains information technology infrastructure and systems development. Leads the office's human resource activities. Supports office communication efforts with stakeholders (internal and external). Coordinates office level conferences, meetings, and offsites. Leads the office's performance management reporting. Leads the office's efforts promoting an Open, Collaborative Work Environment . Leads the office's organizational effectiveness and knowledge management activities.
Division of Safety Systems
Director: Timothy McGinty
Deputy Director: Jack Davis
Provides nuclear plant systems-related analysis to assess the appropriateness of changes to existing licenses including amendments, exceptions, extensions, and applications for new facilities or designs. This analysis focuses on plant safety-related and non-safety-related systems (containment, ventilation and balance of plant), core physics, and core thermal hydraulics performance. Provides expertise for other related purposes such as specific safety issue resolution, special inspections, and event and incident response. Develops programs and guidelines to improve generic technical specifications and provides interpretations of technical specification requirements.
Division of Engineering
Director: Patrick Hiland
Deputy Director: Michael Cheok
Provides safety evaluations of licensee's implementation of NRC requirements, changes to existing licenses (including license renewals), topical reports, relief requests and new licenses. Reviews and evaluates the design, fabrication, inspection, and repair of reactor mechanical and electrical equipment, instrumentation controls, and components, and provides technical expertise for issues in the following: Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation & Controls (Digital), Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Corrosion Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Reactor Coolant Systems, Steam Generators, Non Destructive Examination, In Service Inspection Programs, Flaw Evaluation, Welding, and Material Degradation. Acts as technical liaison with international counterparts (bilaterals), standards and code committees, and external stakeholders from industry and the public.
Division of Risk Assessment
Director: Joseph Giitter
Deputy Director: Samson Lee
Develops and implements policies and guidance for the use of probabilistic risk assessments in regulatory decision making and rulemaking. Performs and evaluates probabilistic safety assessments for nuclear power plants, evaluates severe accident issues as they relate to new plant designs and current generation plants, evaluates fire protection systems performance, and performs and evaluates accident dose assessments. Develops programs and conducts reviews to ensure the effective consideration of human performance, safety culture, and human factors engineering in nuclear power plant design and operation. Develops and implementing rules, standards, plans, and policy for health physics. Provide expertise for other related purposes such as specific safety issue resolution, special inspections, and event and incident response.
Division of License Renewal
Director: John Lubinski
Deputy Director: Melanie Galloway
Provides centralized program management and technical reviews associated with license renewal and environmental activities.
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing
Director: Michele Evans
Deputy Director: Louise Lund
Deputy Director: John Monninger
Implements the policy, programs, and activities, including coordinating licensing and technical reviews, associated with the overall safety and environmental project management for individual operating power reactors located in the Regions.
Division of Inspection and Regional Support
Director: Ho Nieh
Deputy Director: Allen Howe
Provides centralized management for several programs concerning operating power reactors including reactor inspection, performance assessment (the reactor oversight process), operational events, operator licensing, financial assessments, allegations, and international programs. Coordinates the implementation of these programs and develops recommendations for program changes.
Division of Policy and Rulemaking
Director: (Vacant)
Deputy Director: Sher Bahadur
Deputy Director: Mary Muessle
Responsible for the development, documentation, and implementation of policies, procedures and program management for NRR rulemaking, including regulatory analysis and the process for maintaining the Code of Federal Regulations associated with reactor regulation; generic communications; topical reports; licensing processes, including Notices of Enforcement Discretion (NOEDs), §2.206 petitions, and regional task interface agreements (TIAs); interoffice coordination, including coordination of reactor-related reports, research user needs and regulatory guides; and, coordination with industry groups, including the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Electric Power Research Institute, the American Society for Mechanical Engineers, owners groups, reactor vendors, and other industry groups. Responsible for all licensing and oversight for operating research and test reactors, including conduct of operator licensing and coordination of security and decommissioning activities.
