Gender Equity at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Should Not Be Optional

Since the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was established in 1975, 43 individuals have served as commissioners. Of these, only five have been women, constituting less than 10% of the agency’s commissioners since its inception. As a woman who owns a company that works in the nuclear sector and is filled with incredibly talented and highly qualified women who have spent their entire careers dedicated to advancing safety, security, and innovation in the nuclear power sector, I know we can do better.

Unfortunately, over the last two years the Biden Administration has nominated not one, but two men with questionable qualifications to fill critical leadership roles as commissioners of the NRC. The latest, Matthew Marzano, was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week on a party line vote and now awaits a vote by the full Senate.

The Biden administration has made much of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. But nominating Marzano, a junior Senate staffer who has worked as a policy maker for just three scant years and has no senior management experience in the nuclear industry, is an insult to women in the sector.

This story is a familiar one. Too often in our industry, an unqualified man gets elevated before a qualified woman. And yet, Senate Democrats, who are normally such vocal advocates for women’s rights and equality, have thus far been entirely silent and compliant as a Democratic administration has moved to nominate and confirm a man who has no leadership history and little policymaking experience, while passing over women with far greater knowledge, experience, and qualifications and who have served as change agents within the nuclear industry.

And make no mistake, change agents are desperately needed right now at the NRC. The NRC is foundational to any domestic ambitions the U.S. has for building new nuclear plants. Reforming the agency is not optional; it is a requirement for making advanced nuclear technologies a reality. This urgency was reflected in the bipartisan passage of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, legislation aimed at modernizing NRC operations to better align with the demands of the 21st century.

Unfortunately, there is significant concern about whether the agency’s leadership understands the gravity of this mandate. NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson recently claimed that he views the ADVANCE Act as “an endorsement of the work that the agency is already doing,” a notion that simply defies belief. The agency is behind schedule in its Congressionally mandated effort to create a new licensing framework for next generation advanced reactors. Its efforts to date have largely attempted to replicate the agency’s Kafkaesque approach to licensing large conventional reactors for small advanced reactors. It has failed to heed clear congressional direction to modernize its mission. Instead it continues to take actions that escalate costs for new nuclear power at a time when it is critically needed. Cost uncertainty related to licensing, constructing, and operating reactors is a significant challenge for both advanced reactor developers and builders of large, conventional reactors like the two Westinghouse reactors just completed in Georgia. The NRC has the opportunity to mitigate these barriers, but that will require strong and dynamic leadership.

Marzano fought against key provisions of the ADVANCED Act while working under Senator Tom Carper . This means we know he will certainly fight against implementing it, as well as the broader effort to modernize the NRC and create pathways that can support the safe advancement of the next generation of nuclear technologies that we so desperately need today.

So the Marzano nomination is not only an affront to women in the sector, it also reflects a failure by the Biden administration to appreciate just how critical strong and experienced leadership is right now for the NRC. As policymakers and stakeholders focus on how to modernize and expand the nation’s nuclear capacity, the quality of leadership at the NRC has become a vital issue. Marzano is clearly not the right person for this job.

Prior to his brief stint in the Senate, Marzano worked at a nuclear plant as a reactor operator for less than three years. It is a job that requires extensive training to follow the rules, not rewrite them. As Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee remarked prior to the vote on his nomination, “a capacity to follow procedures is fundamentally different than a Commissioner’s role in setting policy, promulgating regulations, and adjudicating significant legal issues.” Marzano is surely a promising young staffer with a lot of development potential and several decades left to prove his leadership skills. But the job of commissioner requires much more than that, especially at this critical juncture for the agency and the nuclear industry.

Reforming the NRC doesn’t just require new policies; it requires leaders who are willing and able to act as change agents. The ADVANCE Act offers a blueprint for modernization. But its success will hinge on the individuals tasked with implementing it. This is why commissioner nominations matter so much—and why they must reflect not only the best talent but also the diversity of perspectives needed to drive innovation. The absence of women in NRC leadership is not just a moral failure; it is a missed opportunity.

For these reasons, the Senate should reject this nomination because it blatantly fails to meet this critical moment for the nuclear industry, doesn’t represent the dynamic and diverse leadership in the nuclear sector, and is an insult to all of the highly qualified women who work in the U.S nuclear power industry. We are paying attention and it has not gone unnoticed.