President Donald Trump this week nominated Ho Nieh, currently an executive with Southern Co.’s nuclear branch, to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The nomination of Nieh, who formerly worked in a staff management position at both NRC and the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency, was announced in a Wednesday press release by the White House. He was nominated to serve the remainder of a term that would expire June 30, 2029.
Nieh’s nomination will be referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. A hearing date has not yet been set.
Nieh began his time with the NRC in 1997 starting out as a resident inspector, where he conducted inspections at water and boiling water reactors. Nieh went on to serve more than 20 years at NRC taking on roles such as director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and chief of staff for former commissioner William Ostendorff.
Nieh retired from the NRC in 2021 and later took on a role with Southern Nuclear. Nieh is currently vice president of regulatory affairs for Southern Nuclear, according to his LinkedIn page.
Nieh has a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from New York Maritime College and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School. He also attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for graduate studies in nuclear engineering and earned a master of business administration from John Hopkins University.
The new NRC nomination comes in the same week where chair David Wright was reconfirmed by the Senate to serve as an NRC commissioner and Annie Caputo announced her resignation. Prior to that, former commissioner Christopher Hanson was terminated from his position by Trump on June 13.
The two other NRC commissioners are Bradley Crowell and Matthew Marzano, both appointees of President Joe Biden. As of Friday morning, Wright was awaiting swearing for his new term.