The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this afternoon announced it is cancelling its annual “Regulatory Information Conference” (RIC) because of fears of the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. The conference has routinely drawn several thousand participants annually to the agency’s Bethesda, Maryland headquarters, and was scheduled for March 10-12.
In an announcement, the agency said it is pulling the plug on the conference “due to circumstances surrounding the novel coronavirus COVID-19.” The agency noted, “In recent days, a number of organizations and presenters have changed their attendance plans, with indications that other would reach similar decisions in coming days.” NRC said it “look forward to holding the RIC next year, in 2021.”
The event would have been the NRC’s 32nd annual RIC and NRC anticipated a sellout crowd.
Last year, the event featured former Microsoft guru Nathan Myhrvold, who pitched the plans of Bill Gates for advanced nuclear reactors and pointed to the success of light-handed regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration of Boeing Corp. as a model for future nuclear regulation. The talk came just days before the federal government grounded all Boeing 737-Max aircraft after two deadly crashes killed hundreds of passengers.
— Kennedy Maize