Remarks Of NRC Chairman Jaczko At Program Briefing From NRC Office Of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

From the NRC:

Good morning. Today, the office of Nuclear Regulatory Research will brief the Commission on the status of the important programs under its supervision. The agency’s regulatory research programs advance our mission by providing the advice, tools, and information that we need to identify and resolve safety issues, develop regulations and guidance, and make regulatory decisions.

The Commission and the other program offices benefit greatly from the office’s consistently high-quality analyses and reports. The office provides the critical independent analysis that the agency needs to verify the claims made by licensees and to ensure that they remain in compliance with our safety, security, and environmental regulations. The agency simply could not conduct effective oversight without the office’s work.

I would like to note that this is National Engineers Week – a time to recognize the contributions that engineers make to our society, as well as to take measure of the importance of math, science, and technical skills. These are not things that we overlook around here – this agency and the industry that it regulates would not exist without the historical and continuing contributions of engineers. I am glad that others around the nation are making a special effort this week to acknowledge and honor the hard work, dedication, and vital contributions of our nation’s engineers.

Note: Briefing slides for this meeting are available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/slides/2010/20100218/nrr-staff-slides-100218.pdf. A full transcript of the meeting will be available soon at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/tr/2010/.