October 18, 2018

Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner (NRC) David Wright visited Davis-Besse Tuesday morning, Oct. 9. He is the third member of the current five-person commission to visit the plant. Commissioner Jeff Baran was there this spring and Commission Chair Kristine Svinicki toured in 2016.

Commissioner Wright began his day meeting with the plant’s two NRC resident inspectors who then led him on a tour of the Turbine Deck, Control Room, Shield Building and the Emergency Feedwater Facility. Subject matter experts from the plant staff were available to answer questions. He ended his stay by meeting with station leadership and FENOC Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Harden over lunch.

Commissioner Wright was nominated by President Donald Trump to finish the remainder of a five-year term that ends June 30, 2020. He was sworn in on May 30. The Clemson graduate is a former mayor and member of the state house in South Carolina. He is a former member of the Advisory Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Nuclear Waste Initiative and an ex-officio member and chairman emeritus of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, an ad hoc organization representing the interests of industry, state officials, local governments and tribes and consumer advocates.

Commissioner Wright was on the South Carolina Public Service Commission for ten years, served as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Electric Power Research Institute.

He was very complimentary of the condition of the plant and of the people he met throughout the day. The commissioner said the employees’ ownership of the plant was very evident.

Design Engineering Manager Greg Michael (l.) explains the work currently being done on the plant’s Shield Building to the commissioner.