In Black America Podcast: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission with The Honorable William D. Magwood, IV
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On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with the Honorable William D. Magwood, IV, Commissioner of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. On April 1st, 2010, Magwood was sworn in as a Commissioner of the NRC, to an initial term ending on June 30th, 2010, and reappointment term ending June 30th, 2015. He is the second African American to sit on the Commission.
Magwood was the longest-serving head of the United States’ civilian nuclear technology program, serving two Presidents and five Secretaries of Energy from May 1998 until he stepped down on May 24, 2005. He then founded the firm Advanced Energy Strategies to provide strategic advice to domestic and international clients.
As the Director of Nuclear Energy with the U.S. Department of Energy, he was the senior nuclear technology official in the United States Government and the senior nuclear technology policy advisor to the Secretary of Energy. Under Magwood’s leadership, the Office of Nuclear Energy encouraged a new consideration of nuclear power technology in the United States. Among other efforts, he led the creation of the “Nuclear Power 2010″ initiative, which remains the cornerstone of U.S. industry’s exploration of building new nuclear power plants to provide for the Nation’s future energy needs, and led efforts that reversed the decline in American nuclear technology education.
Magwood was also a strong advocate of international technology cooperation and was elected Chairman of both the Generation IV International Forum and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steering Committee on Nuclear Energy. Prior to his appointment as Director of Nuclear Energy, he served as the Associate Director for Technology and Program Planning in the Office of Nuclear Energy for four years. From 1984-1994, he managed electric utility research and nuclear policy programs at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington, DC; and he was a scientist at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he analyzed radiological and hazardous waste disposal, treatment, and handling systems.
Magwood holds a B.S. degree in Physics and a B.A. degree in English from Carnegie-Mellon University. He also holds an M.F.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
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