NRC names new deputy regional construction chief in Atlanta office

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Tuesday that Laura Dudes has been named the new deputy regional administrator of construction for the Region II office in Atlanta.

In this position, she will oversee NRC inspection and licensed construction-site activity on a national scale.
Dudes holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. She began her work with the NRC in 1994 as a reactor engineering intern, and two years later, she became a reactor inspector within the Division of Reactor Safety at the NRC Region I office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

She also has served as a resident inspector and senior resident inspector at the Indian Point nuclear plant in New York and the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, respectively.

Her change in position was announced after the previous deputy administrator for construction,  Frederick Brown, was named as a senior adviser in the Office of the Executive Director for Operations at NRC headquarters. Brown served in the position since 2012.

Dudes resumed work at NRC headquarters in 2002 and has served in multiple capacities, including inspection program management, enforcement coordination and within the Division of Engineering as the deputy director. Most recently, she served as director of the NRC Division of Materials Safety, State, Tribal and Rulemaking Programs within the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.