WASHINGTON (June 16, 2025)—Late Friday, June 13, President Trump fired Christopher Hanson, a commissioner serving on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the nation’s independent federal agency tasked with developing and enforcing safety and security requirements for commercial nuclear facilities.
Below is a statement by Dr. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“President Trump’s firing of Christopher Hanson from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is only his latest outrageous move to undermine the independence and integrity of the agency that protects the U.S. homeland from the types of nuclear power plant disasters that devastated the former Soviet Union and Japan. Hanson is a dedicated public servant and a strong supporter of the NRC’s public health and safety mission. The loss of such a highly knowledgeable and fair-minded individual will imperil the public from coast to coast as the White House continues to compromise the safety and security of the U.S. nuclear fleet.”