In this episode, NENSC Co-Chair Daniel B. Poneman sits down with the Honorable Bill Ostendorff, former Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a member of the NENSC Expert Council. Ostendorff has seen the nuclear enterprise from nearly every angle: 26 years in the Rickover Nuclear Navy, including command of the attack submarine USS Norfolk; staff director of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee; Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; and six years on the Commission, including the response to Fukushima.
The conversation covers the lasting lessons of Admiral Rickover's high standards, why the industry stalled after Three Mile Island and what is different now, how NRC reform can move forward without compromising the Commission's independence, the U.S. response to Fukushima, how to staff up a growing nuclear fleet without shortcuts on safety culture, and why naval reactors, NNSA, and the commercial industry must be viewed as one interdependent enterprise.
Watch HERE