Pinellas man to head nuclear agency

Nils J. Diaz will head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at a time of heightened security concerns.

By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 2, 2003

Nils J. Diaz, a St. Pete Beach resident and former University of Florida professor, was chosen Tuesday to head the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The selection of the 64-year-old Diaz, appointed by President Bush, comes at a time that the chairmanship has assumed greater visibility because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Diaz takes over for Richard Meserve, who is leaving early to become president of the Carnegie Institution, a prominent research center in Washington, D.C.

Diaz, who turns 65 next week, joined the five-member commission in 1996. He was previously a professor of nuclear engineering science at the University of Florida. He also was director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power Institute, a consortium of industries, universities and national laboratories, and a nuclear consultant.

As chairman, Diaz is the NRC's principal executive officer and chief spokesman. He is responsible for the administrative, organizational, long-range planning and budgetary functions of the agency.

He assumes the new role at a sensitive time. The terrorist attacks placed great attention on security of the nation's nuclear facilities, including the Progress Energy plant in Crystal River.

In speeches and interviews, Diaz has sought to play down public concern, saying nuclear plants are among the strongest industrial facilities in the world.

Diaz says nuclear plants should be adequately secured but has been critical of "doomsday" scenarios, such as what would happen if a jetliner crashed into a reactor.

"I firmly believe that there would not be significant health and safety consequences for the public from radiation in the very unlikely scenario of that type of attack, even if the containment is breached or other structures failed," Diaz told the American Nuclear Society in November 2002.

"It is not possible to bring to zero the possibility of plant structural or systems failure, but it is reasonable to state that the American system of protecting our citizens today will not fail."

Diaz could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

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