POTENTIAL NAMES EMERGE FOR NRC COMMISSIONER OPENING

With at least one commissioner spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission opening up this summer, potential candidates have begun to emerge as possible nominations, RW Monitor has learned. The leading candidates reportedly include Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner, the current chief of staff for NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane, Sam Fowler, a long-time Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee aide, and Mary Louise Wagner, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz’s Senior Nuclear Policy Advisor. The commissioner opening stems from current Commissioner William Magwood’s recent announcement that he will take over as Director General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency in September. NRC declined to comment yesterday while DOE and Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office did not respond to calls for comment yesterday.