Carbon-free power
Pillsbury lawyer Jeff Merrifield is a former Commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
PUF had been in San Diego for a third day. Or was it day four? Or five? Many of the regulatory and utility leaders and the like had by then lost count after many meetings and a networking bonanza at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit.
The last general session drew everyone back to the large conference hall. On a topic all wanted to know more about, "are we ready for a nuclear reactor renaissance?" With NARUC President Judy Jagdmann at the helm, filing onstage for the panel discussion were the CEOs of new nuclear companies Oklo and TerraPower, Jacob DeWitte and Chris Levesque respectively, the CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Maria Korsnick, and a former Commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Pillsbury lawyer Jeff Merrifield.
Those in the room indeed learned so much about the promise and pace of this next generation of nuclear technologies. So, the PUF team put the grab on one of the experts, former NRC Commissioner Merrifield. As you can see in the Q&A below, there is a lot to know.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: You were a Commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Now you are a lawyer with a major firm, and work in nuclear quite a bit. How did your career lead to this role and what do you do on a typical day?