 Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. I hope we had a good break and Just as a quick reminder, please use these QR codes To get to the platform to use the Q&A tab to ask questions and similarly if you're participating online Use the Q&A tab as well So it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce Commissioner Caputo The Honorable Annie Caputo was sworn in as a commissioner of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on August 9th 2022 is currently serving the remainder of a five-year term ending June 30th, 2026 Commissioner Caputo previously served on the NRC Commission from 2018 to 2021 Most recently she worked as a consultant for the Idaho National Laboratory Related to international collaboration on advanced nuclear reactors Prior to her work at INL. She served as a professional staff member on the US Armed Services Committee Assisting with issues related to national nuclear security administrations infrastructure She also served as a senior policy advisor to Chairman John Barrasso on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Commissioner Caputo held the same position for then Chairman James Inhoff from 2007 to 2012 and from 2005 to 2006 and 2012 to 2015 Commissioner Caputo worked for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce handling nuclear energy issues Prior to her positions on the Capitol Hill. She worked for the Exxon Corporation And a graduate from the University of Wisconsin Madison. She holds a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering Commissioner Good morning, it is wonderful to be here in person and to see all of you It's also a great opportunity for those of you that can't be here to join us remotely in this hybrid rec So thank you to all the employees who have made this such a successful event both here and virtually It's also wonderful to see so many of our international colleagues Some of whom I've already been able to meet with or chat with Thrilled that you've made the travel to be here. It's a long distance for so many of you I'm but it's such a wonderful chance for us to meet and work together as International colleagues in our collective cause for nuclear or safety and I particularly want to call out director general Bill Magwood and alumni of our institution And deputy director Liddy Everard for being here from the IAEA And it's also wonderful to see our former colleagues Commissioner Austin Doriff, Commissioner Mayerfield, Commissioner Barron was here earlier Lost him. So thank you for all being here and and for your service in the past and your continuing advice to all of us who continue to serve at the NRC and Like my predecessors have said thank you to their staff I am blessed with such a talented staff and they are high performers all of them who without whom I'd be lost So a special thanks to Nicole, Heather, Marilyn, Julie, Kayla, and Eric So thank you all for your service in my office and a special. Thank you It was kind of a surprise visit for me today My son and daughter Abigail and Owen are here today To cheer me on and they are a special inspiration to me. I dearly love them. I'm thrilled to have them with me this morning so Let me just start by saying I really want to associate myself with Commissioner Wright's remarks his heartwarming focus on our people and their work Was just really Inspirational it's so important that selfless service every day at the agency and I really want to associate myself with with Commissioner Wright's remarks And I appreciate the chairman for his focus on optimism and his remarks as well recapping a lot of what's going on at the agency. I have to say The theme for my remarks if there is a theme really focuses a lot more on a sense of urgency I think and and the need to be more focused on results in our licensing decisions So with that I will get down to business NRC's goal is to become a modern risk-informed regulator and I think that can mean a lot of things But what does it mean and why does it matter and to me it means We're focused on our core licensing and oversight work Our regulatory actions are consistent with a risk reduction achieved and are promptly fairly decisively administrative lending stability to nuclear operations and planning that we are agile and responsive to changes in the landscape and Keeping with the title for this for this conference and that we're making decisions without undue delay And lastly that in all we do we are transparent Independent, but we are also Externally aware and not isolated So why do we need to become a modern risk-informed regulator? At last year's Rick I discussed how the primacy of our mission to protect public health and safety and promote the common defense and security and to protect the environment is Indisputable in Focusing on that mission and the day-to-day work that supports it. It's easy to lose sight of the larger Changing landscape and how we fit into as an agency how we fit into a much larger picture Energy is the lifeblood of the economy not just ours the global economy and every nation in it The challenge of transitioning away from fossil fuels is driving growth in electricity demand at home and abroad policymakers in the administration and Congress Expect nuclear energy to play a significant role in meeting domestic and International clean energy needs So we at the NRC are the gatekeeper for nuclear energy in the US Whether nuclear energy will make a growing contribution to our nature's clean nations clean energy needs Will depend on the posture with which we execute our safety and security mission Given the NRC is global reputation for nuclear safety regulation and using risk information the NRC should also be a leader in establishing best practices for reducing Regulatory risk and improving the predictability and timeliness of our licensing reviews This is why the NRC must become a modern risk-informed regulator and to put this in context I'm going to take a few minutes to just scratch the surface of the challenging the challenge that's unfolding Periodically the Commission meets with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to discuss issues Where our work and our jurisdictions? Either touch or intersect and so we do this meeting occasionally Do this a few months ago and one of the presentations was from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation known widely as NERC and and The representatives spoke on the 2023 long-term Reliability assessment so this has to do with grid reliability in the US and well in North America and NERC notes that generator retirements are expected before sufficient Replacement resources will be in service their long-term reliability assessment indicates 117 gigawatts of new resource additions by 2023 But this is only slightly higher than 83 gigawatts of retirements so there are other Resource additions that are in the early stages of planning and may come on to the grid But there are also additional fossil fuel retirements that are likely so this leads for to conclude the imbalance of generator retirements and resource challenges And resource additions challenges the ability to serve growing demand NERC also noted that there has been a sharp rise in demand and energy growth Forecasts and this is since their 2022 report just a year prior so growth in electricity demand is Accelerating but what does that mean in practical terms? For one utility a recent press report Notes that it is going to have to shift from 2 percent annual growth in demand to 6 percent annual growth in demand by 2028 That's not a lot of time to finance permit Construct and bring new generation online much less if 6 percent demand growth becomes the new normal So where is this growth in demand coming from and the chairman touched on this somewhat? I'm going to provide a few more numbers and a little more context one example that NERC listed is Interconnection requests for 41 gigawatts Just for cryptocurrency Just cryptocurrency So if the new resource additions NERC expects only exceed retirements by 34 gigawatts The new resource additions will be fully consumed and then some Just from cryptocurrency What about electricity demand to support additional data centers? one study from the boston consulting group Estimates 28 gigawatts by 2030 And a different scenario with a higher penetration of Generative AI Could drive data centers to triple their current share of us electricity consumption In addition to that there is the effort to transition energy use in general away from fossil fuels and electrify the national economy So I gave an example last year of cities seeking to electrify urban centers and shift their buildings away from natural gas This would drive a huge growth in in baseload generation needs And then there were the ongoing efforts to decarbonize transportation While much attention has been focused on electric vehicles. There are also efforts in trucking freight trains and global shipping Whether these vehicles are electric powered Or powered with a transportable fuel like hydrogen These efforts are likely to drive growth in electricity demand Going even further heavy industries are exploring how to decarbonize In texas dow is currently partnering with xenergy to transition its energy use to nuclear at one of its facilities But the steel industry is also looking at nuclear energy Mining companies are looking for energy sources for remote locations where micro reactors might fit the bill Battery manufacturing is expected to drive growth and electricity demand in some parts of the country Oil and gas producers Are trying to shift away from the diesel power generation that powers their drilling fields And connect to the grid to reduce their emissions and their fuel costs According to the wall street journal, this is driving up electricity demand in new maxaco Texas and north dakota But some companies are unable to connect to the grid and are developing their own micro grids So to summarize the national demand for electricity Generator retirements are expected before replacements are online And growth in electricity Demand is accelerating And these dynamics lead narc to conclude that a growing number of areas face capacity and energy risks In just the next 10 years This is a chairman mentioned an article from the washington post entitled quote amid explosive demand America is running out of power This article quoted a state public service commissioner saying Quote when you look at the numbers it is staggering It makes you scratch your head and wonder how we ended up in this situation How were the projections this far off? This has created a challenge like we have never seen before This is a rapidly changing landscape and everything i've discussed here is public information You can begin to sense the scope and magnitude of the change that's unfolding It also becomes clear why there's a consensus and a sense of urgency in congress and the administration That nuclear energy must play a key role in meeting our nation's need for clean energy and energy security In addition to the many efforts underway to spur nuclear energy development The administration signed an agreement at cop 28, which the chairman mentioned the un conference on climate change in dubai An agreement to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 So cop 28 was in december new us u.s. Nuclear generating capacity at the time Was about 96 gigawatts That calculates out to 192 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity over the next 26 years Since then vol 4 has started up so 1.2 gigawatts down 190.8 gigawatts to go This is ambitious to put it mildly So congress has also turned its attention to the nrc Again pursuing legislation in both chambers with bipartisan support Senators capitol white house and carper have introduced the advance act in the senate To support the licensing of advanced nuclear technologies To strengthen the domestic nuclear energy fuel cycle and supply chain And to improve the regulation of nuclear energy Most recently the house of representatives passed their nuclear bill with a vote of 365 to 36 So for those of you who have a sense of just how contentious things are in congress these days and in politics in general in this country 365 house members voted in favor of this legislation a remarkable bipartisan agreement And here's the stated purpose of the house bill HR 6544 the atomic energy advancement act would advance the benefits of nuclear energy By establishing requirements for the nuclear energy commission to license and regulate nuclear energy technology In an efficient predictable and timely manner 365 house members feel such a sense of urgency With regard to nuclear energy that they agreed on the need to establish requirements for us as an agency To be efficient predictable and timely legislation specifically directs the nrc to update its mission statement to include That licensing and regulation of nuclear energy activities be conducted in a manner that is efficient And does not unnecessarily limit the potential of nuclear energy to improve the general welfare And the benefits of nuclear energy to society This indicates that Indicates a conclusion that the nrc must become more efficient predictable and timely At least in congress's eyes the nrc has not yet become The modern risk informed regulator that they expect So the theme for this conference is adapting to a changing landscape And that's an important recognition that our landscape is changing But it's not enough Talking about it is not enough In his book measure what matters john door stresses ideas are easy Execution is everything Results matter In congress's pursuit of legislation Clutely reflects an expectation that improved performance on the part of nrc In recognition of the coming need for nuclear energy So what's to be done For the nrc The path to improving execution i believe lies in Getting back to basics Improving the agency's agility in the face of change And focusing on achieving results So i'm going to start with the basics In 1974 congress passed the energy reorganization act when the country was facing a different energy transition The declared purpose sounds similar to many of the goals our government and industries are pursuing today So i'm quoting from the act The congress hereby declares that the general welfare and common defense and security will require effective action to develop And increase the efficiency and reliability Of the use of all energy sources to meet the needs of present and future generations To increase the productivity of the national economy and strengthen its position in regard to international trade To make the nation self-sufficient in energy To advance the goals of restoring protecting and enhancing environmental quality and to assure the public health and safety It was in this act that congress established the nuclear regulatory commission as the safety and security regulator For the civilian uses of nuclear technology Again i'll quote from the act There are hereby transferred to the commission all the licensing and related regulatory functions of the atomic energy commission Thus licensing was the only specifically enumerated function Effectively designating it as our principal function So today while the agency remains diligent in its oversight and inspection work Licensing reviews are a relatively small portion of the agency's activities Over time the related regulatory functions have come to dominate our operations The cost of licensing reviews and inspections to ensure compliance are recovered from Licenses and applicants in 2016 This since 2016 this work has fallen over 40 percent In 2023 this licensing and oversight work comprised 21 percent of our budget and accounted for around 420 of our nearly 20 860 employees And yet there have been delays in some licensing reviews specifically license renewals Due to a lack of staff resources This means that licensing is competing for management attention with related regulatory functions that are funded by the other 79 percent of the budget Another example is the nrc strategic plan. It contains 32 strategies Only one of which is directly related to licensing decisions Promote risk informed decision making to result in effective and efficient oversight rulemaking and licensing and certification activities These facts paint a picture of how licensing is not viewed as our priority I believe we need to get back to basics That leadership should be focusing and prioritizing efficient licensing reviews and effective oversight To make safe use of energy and nuclear energy possible Improving our execution also requires Improving the agency's agility A common definition of organizational agility is the ability of an organization to Adapt quickly to market changes and evolving customer demands It involves flexible processes Rapid decision making and a culture that embraces change and innovation License renewal reviews Faced a change in the landscape The fact that staff resources are still lacking after two years and in spite of hiring 600 new employees Raises concerns about our agility It shows a need to improve our strategic hiring our knowledge management Our versatility And management focus to ensure we have the right skills at the right time To efficiently execute our workload nrc employees as david so well covered Are skilled and dedicated I believe we need to do more to invest in them whether they are new or have been with us for several years or many years They are drawn by a commitment to public service and to our mission But it's not clear. We're giving them the training they need To develop or empowering them to fully contribute and be successful Whether they are environmental reviewers project managers or resident inspectors Our knowledge management should be structured to serve them well and expand their skills through cross training to be valuable in a range of positions Leaders need to be intentional and strategic so that when the landscape changes The agency can quickly adapt by assigning staff with the right skills Where they are needed In addition to a back to basics focus and improving organizational activity Agility There is a need a clear need to improve results The first kairos review was an important success But it is one data point that needs to grow into a predictable pattern Our regulatory actions should routinely be risk informed objective and transparent and our decisions should routinely be efficient predictable fair And timely once again lending stability to nuclear operations and planning The agency has taken steps to be more risk informed and is established a number of processes many of which you're familiar with Be risk smart risk informed process for evaluations Very low safety significance resolution process the back fit rule and others However, it's not clear that these processes are being used to their fullest potential There is also room to expand our efforts The bipartisan legislation passed by the House of Representatives included language Instructing the nrc to report on risk informing our oversight and inspections After seeking input from the secretary of energy national labs nuclear industry and non-governmental organizations However, we need not wait for congressional Direction, it's within our authority to take this initiative now We have over 20 years of experience with the reactor oversight process This provides a wealth of data and an opportunity to use data driven decision making to risk inform refine and modernize our processes recently The commission took an important step toward part 53 the risk informed performance based regulatory framework for advanced reactors This was congressionally mandated This has been years in the development This represents a considerable effort on the part of the staff a considerable effort on the part of the staff of the commission And and reaching this step is an impressive accomplishment. However, I will say work remains One area that deserves close attention is the area of managing cumulative risk Management of cumulative risk has historically been accomplished by our power reactor licensees using their technical specifications Enshrining a comprehensive risk metric in a role is a step not previously taken by the agency in its history I believe that this attempt will be fraught with complications When it comes time for implementation and I would urge folks to consider Regulatory issue summary 2007-21 and the discussion of the jordan memo for those Who have been around long enough to recall this? It was quite a bit of research recommended to me I believe it's a useful case study for 30 years the agency struggled with how to define and enforce maximum thermal power Due to the nature of how natural fluctuations normal fluctuations in plant parameters can produce slight increases in thermal power Licensing a comprehensive risk metric could easily result in similar pitfalls and complications in execution I believe workshop and tabletops discussions will be crucial to exploring the practicality of implementing such a requirement Subsequent license renewals are another opportunity to embody the principle that regulatory activities should be consistent With the degree of risk production they achieve Given the agency's extensive license renewal experience subsequent license renewal reviews should exhibit improved efficiency and expend fewer resources than was necessary for initial license renewals The experience gained should produce a learning curve For later reviews to be more efficient based on the lessons learned in the previous ones Further majority of aging management programs that are in place with regulatory approval And oversight for the first period of extended operations should largely remain valid for continued operation So applicants should be credited for these and other regulatory programs like maintenance requirements So that the scope of the review should focus on new issues or those that are unique to the 60 to 80 year time frame a key To improving results for these and many other issues Many other issues is the use of Matrix as commissioner and right and I have proposed to our colleagues meaningful objective performance metrics for licensing activities would allow the agency to benchmark best practices Discover opportunities for process improvements and refine budget estimates This is especially relevant as the agency conducts first of a kind React or licensing reviews that are likely to bear higher costs than later reviews Improved performance management Will help verify whether there is a learning curve leading to more efficient consistent and predictable reviews Shouldn't we want to have Metrics shouldn't we want to improve our efficiency Predictability and timeliness Shouldn't we want to know where we can improve? And shouldn't we want to know whether or not we're actually demonstrating progress We as an agency need to set clear aggressive, but achievable goals We need to track performance with meaningful metrics to achieve improved results Metrics are essential to inform leadership and guide management on how best to demonstrate The agency's agility and improve the agency's execution Demonstrating efficient predictable and timely reviews aligns with congressional expectations And is important to maintaining stakeholder confidence in the agency's effectiveness I also believe that demonstrating we can achieve timely reviews and celebrating those successes Is vital to improving staff morale In 2008 and 2009 when the agency was rated the best place to work in the federal government It was the start of the nuclear renaissance when the agency faced a high workload with high expectations The agency continues to have bright and capable staff today And i'm confident they will strive to meet the goals that we set for them Achieving and celebrating such success is an essential element to job satisfaction To staff engagement And to pride in the agency Mahatma Gandhi said It's not just words Actions express priorities Becoming a modern risk informed regulator should not be an aspirational soundbite It's a necessity to successfully execute our safety and security mission I believe the agency should reassert the importance of licensing as principal to our mission Improve our agility in responding to fact of life changes Use data to track our efficiency and guide performance improvements And hold ourselves accountable for achieving results Our country's need for electricity is is going to require a significant new generation For nuclear energy to play a significant role the nrc must become More efficient predictable and timely in its licensing actions The administration and congress expects it and our country needs it Our actions need to express our priorities Now i'm going to take a few minutes To speak as a woman in the nuclear field IAEA just had a wonderful celebration of international women's day here in the us It's women's history month I'm glad to see cheer hands and is engaging on women's issues with several of our International colleagues on a patent on a panel during the rick Director general magwood is continuing his work on gender balance And mentoring programs encouraging young women to pursue careers in nuclear Dg magwood has long been a champion for women And i'm immensely grateful for his advice during my career Unlike dg magwood. I'm a latecomer to the discussion of women in the workplace My eyes were opened over a year ago on the challenges women face And i'm going to recap the revelation the start of my journey with a couple of events Shortly after I was confirmed for my second term I found myself getting new explained Someone with significantly less technical experience Technical and policy experience talked to me as if I was clueless about an issue I'd monitored for years It was frustrating and demeaning But I let it go and redirected the conversation to a different topic I didn't want to be difficult Later that night I reflected on the experience and I was frustrated and then came the revelation If this is still happening to me at my stage At this stage in my career how many other women must also be struggling Not long after that experience. I ran into romina velce Our colleague from canada who as many of you know is an amazing leader And so inspirational on this issue. I couldn't wait to share my story She listened and then asked so what did you do about it? That was a wake-up call What did I done about it? Nothing Same approach I'd taken for my entire career. I didn't want to be difficult I just ignored it and plowed forward Shortly after that I was in a meeting and I watched a woman struggle repeatedly to speak up and contribute At which point I also tried to speak up and struggled It really hit home for me how women in those situations are faced with a dilemma Do they assert themselves? Make that contribution to the discussion and risk being labeled difficult Or even worse aggressive Or do they play it safe sit quietly and let it go For how long have how many women tried so hard Not to be difficult Well Here is what jane goodall has to say about that It actually doesn't take much to be a difficult woman That's why there are so many of us Ladies there is strength in numbers There are a lot of us and we need to support each other We need to find ways to encourage each other as we advance our careers Mentor each other with strategies on how to be effective in the workplace Be allies that speak up for each other when we see when we see other struggle Otherwise the challenges we face today will remain for our daughters to confront during their careers Consider this example A woman recently relayed a situation where she was told You're just lucky to have a seat at the table Because I've started to speak out on these issues women are reaching out and sharing their experiences with me And my first thought upon hearing that was the same With all the other experiences that have been shared with me I'm just dumbfounded and all I can think is Seriously In this day and age One thing is for sure That's not the voice of leadership That's not the voice of collaboration. That's intimidation. It says know your place It says be seen and not heard For all those around the table who observe and stay silent It becomes an endorsement acquiesce and perpetuate that culture While i'm speaking as a woman and relaying a woman's experience I expect other minorities and gender non-conforming people have likely experienced similar dynamics I think one part of the solution is the same for all The challenge for leadership across the nuclear field is to truly create a healthy Collaborative environment that welcomes all contributions How do we can how do we create an environment? They encourage everyone to reach their full potential. How do we support them? develop their skills and give them the tools to be competitive So that they become the obvious choice To sit at the table that their contributions are valued and sought after My advice for everyone is start by having a career goal If you don't know where you're going You may end up somewhere else Yes, in addition to your roles as spouse parent employee chef chauffeur dog walker class parents soccer coach and everything else Find the time to make a plan You are your best asset and having a plan is an investment in your future Beyond that seize opportunities to sharpen your skills Build your network of people who empower and support you Find mentors accept their help and learn all you can from them and be brave The Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Mathai said finally I was able to see that if I had a contribution to make I must do it Despite what others said that I was okay The way I was and that it was all right to be strong Few of us are as brave and strong as Wangari But I encourage you all Be as brave and strong as you can That concludes my remarks Oh, well, thank you commissioner for those remarks Very inspiring We do have a number of questions that have come in so if you're ready we can go ahead and dive in Okay, sure So in your comments, you discussed some of the legislation that could uh before congress that could affect the nrc Could you provide a perspective on what those effects could be and whether there are any actions the bills would direct That do you feel the nrc should Could and should work on proactively even if they do not become law Some of the provisions I think that are particularly in common to both bills We already have the authority and are working Um quite significantly on there is hiring authority that both bills include um That is unique and has not been pursued before for the agency New authority if you will But honestly we've hired 600 people in the last Two years So while I think that that presents a challenge for knowledge management To welcome all of these people and help them Network and train and become valued employees I believe that's something that we are working on today and doing very constructively I think the risk informing That is contained in the house bill is certainly something that we can look at And pursue now Um, I also think to a certain extent some of what's directed In terms of um evolving our mission statement I think some of the seeds of that probably already reside in our office of reactor regulation I think more in more fully embracing Our um our ability to make the safe use of nuclear energy possible is a step in that direction So I think those um those are all I think important provisions that we could think about how to begin Taking congress's direction to heart And begin working in that direction even while we await passage of of that legislation Okay, thank you I have a question here. This is uh, thank you for your grounding perspective on the mission of the nrc Adapting implies agility to pivot to meet the moment with efficiency and predictability To do that require a strong leadership to implement at all levels What do you view is necessary to achieve this paradigm shift in order to meet the predicted licensing demands? I think we have a lot of stated intent I think a lot of what the chairman talked about in terms of his optimism and his trust is very relevant But I think to a certain extent We need our leadership to Take that to heart and take it the next step not just discuss it and talk about it but to actually lead by example and execute and And by doing so and having that focus Walking the walk inspire those Um employees in their organization to do the same. I think that is a key To beginning to not just improve the trust and leadership and not just to improve our performance But to in a basic sense begin to improve our culture Just by understanding and respecting Leaders when they are not just talking about the right example, but when they are walking the walk Thank you for that and our time is drawing to a close, but let me ask one last question here Power upgrades are now economically feasible due to the incentives and the inflation reduction act What is your perspective on the nrc's role in enabling sizable power upgrades that are larger than historically completed upgrades I think this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our agility In many ways we have known for years that subsequent license renewals would be coming And we're notified by licensees that they would be filing applications I think the difficulty in environmental reviews. I I hope we will be turning a corner at some point soon But I think there are a lot of lessons there if if Those license reviews need to become risk informed at this point when we already have so many underway it's a lesson to To to look at our needs for and our processes for power Upgrade reviews to dust them off to begin making sure we have enough people trained and in place To do that it's been a while since we've since we've conducted power upgrades and and there's an opportunity for us here To demonstrate results better than we have on subsequent license renewal So that's an opportunity. I think both for leadership and agility across the board Okay, well, thank you so much and and thanks again for your for your remarks