Fed Event: Feb 02, 2012, "U.S. Energy Policy: A Call to Action", Herschel Specter, President, RBR Consultants, Inc.

CISSM FORUM | FEBRUARY 02, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
1203 Van Munching Hall

"U.S. Energy Policy: A Call to Action"by Herschel Specter, President, RBR Consultants, Inc.

Herschel Specter is the president of RBR Consultants, Inc. and has worked on government-related energy projects in the United States and internationally for more than 40 years. In 1965, Specter joined the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) where he established national nuclear reactor containment acceptance criteria and completed safety reviews. In 1974, he moved to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, where he worked to produce a series of international nuclear design safety standards. He returned to the United States in 1979, working first at the Department of Energy and then at the New York Power Authority (NYPA).

As technical advisor to NYPA’s Executive Vice President, Specter was asked by the Department of Energy to chair a national committee on emergency planning. He also chaired the Nuclear Utility Management and Resources Council (NUMARC)’s Task Force on Emergency Planning. In 1987, Specter conducted a major review of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations.

In 1992, Specter initiated a national effort on “Risk-Based Regulation” (RBR) and presented this concept to all five NRC Commissioners at a public hearing. Risk-based regulation has become the centerpiece for modernizing the nuclear regulatory process at the NRC and within the nuclear industry. In addition to his RBR activities, Specter has published extensively on other nuclear safety issues, on the environment, and on energy policy matters. He has served on the editorial board of an international energy journal and lectured domestically and internationally.