George Mason University Scientist Now Leads the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

This week, Allison M. Macfarlane took office as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She had been nominated by President Obama in May and was recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Dr. Macfarlane has been serving as an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Macfarlane is the co-editor of the book, Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation’s High-Level Nuclear Waste (MIT Press, 2006).