ML24214A246
| ML24214A246 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/17/2024 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| References | |
| News Release-24-058 | |
| Download: ML24214A246 (1) | |
Text
No: 24-058 July 17, 2024 CONTACT: Office of Public Affairs, 301-415-8200 Mirela Gavrilas Named Executive Director for Operations The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced today that Mirela Gavrilas, currently head of the agencys Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, has been named Executive Director for Operations, effective July 28, 2024.
The EDO position is the highest-ranking NRC career position with responsibilities for overseeing the agencys operational and administrative functions and serving as the chief operating officer.
Mirela is extraordinarily qualified for this top leadership position, based on her technical expertise, communication and management skills, and demonstrated ability to modernize work processes and metrics, said NRC Chair Christopher Hanson. She is well poised to lead the NRC staff as we tackle challenges and embrace new opportunities, particularly after the recent passage of the ADVANCE Act.
Gavrilas has been the head of NSIR since 2020, where she has been responsible for developing and implementing security and emergency preparedness policy. Since becoming a senior executive in 2014, she has held management positions for research and test reactors, risk assessment and reactor systems in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Among her most notable contributions to the NRC mission are the Be riskSMART decision making framework, a methodology for the probabilistic treatment of safety margins, the construction permit review for the SHINE medical isotope production facility, NRCs original accident tolerant fuel plan, and security considerations for licensing advanced reactors. She has also previously led efforts to develop new regulatory frameworks for accident tolerant fuels and novel Molydenum-99 production facilities. She began her NRC career in 2004 as an engineer in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
Gavrilas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park and a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also served as a post-doctoral fellow. Prior to joining the NRC, she taught nuclear engineering classes, advised masters and doctoral candidates, and conducted experimental and computational thermal-hydraulic research as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland at College Park.