NRC officials in Atlanta have selected Justin D. Fuller as the new senior resident inspector for the construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, and Coleman Abbott has been selected as the resident inspector
– Source NRC –
Late this summer, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to officially open a new construction inspection office at the Vogtle nuclear plant site, 26 miles southeast of Augusta near Waynesboro, Ga., and the agency has named the first resident inspectors to staff that office.
NRC officials in Atlanta have selected Justin D. Fuller as the new senior resident inspector for the construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, and Coleman Abbott has been selected as the resident inspector. Southern Nuclear Operating Company, which operates the two existing Vogtle units, filed an application with the NRC for two additional units at the site in early 2008. With the application currently under review by the NRC staff, the company has begun limited site work under an authorization issued by the NRC.
Fuller is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, and joined the NRC’s Region II office in Atlanta in 2002. He completed a rigorous inspector qualification program and was assigned as a region-based reactor inspector. As a reactor inspector, he performed a variety of engineering inspections at operating nuclear power plants. He also was a temporary resident inspector at both the Catawba plant in South Carolina and the Watts Bar plant in Tennessee.
In 2007, Fuller was assigned as a construction inspector in the Division of Construction Inspection and later promoted to senior construction inspector. Last year, Fuller spent three months with Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. Throughout his time in Finland, Fuller worked with that agency’s inspectors at Olkiluoto Unit 3, a new nuclear plant under construction. He has also been involved in a number of special projects including the restart of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry plant in Alabama and the resumption of construction activities at Watts Bar Unit 2. Fuller received his Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2002.
Coleman Abbott is a native of Ellenwood, Ga., and joined the NRC’s Region II office in 2007. He completed a rigorous inspector qualification program and was then assigned as a region-based civil construction inspector. As a construction inspector, he has performed a variety of civil/structural engineering inspections at fuel facilities and operating nuclear power plants. He has provided resident inspector support at both the mixed oxide fabrication facility under construction in South Carolina and Watts Bar Unit 2 in Tennessee.
In 2009, Abbott was qualified as a construction inspector and later completed the agency’s Nuclear Safety Professional Development Program. Last year, Abbott spent a total of five months collectively providing resident inspector support at both mixed oxide facility and Watts Bar Unit 2. Abbott worked with the resident inspectors during an outage at Watts Bar Unit 2 and participated in pipe support and restraint inspections, as well as other construction inspection activities. He has also provided technical assistance to an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting for developing an IAEA Safety Guide. Abbott received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Alabama A&M University in 2007.
“Justin Fuller and Coleman Abbott have the knowledge, training and experience to help ensure that the construction is completed according to NRC regulations and in a way that protects people and the environment,” said NRC Region II Deputy Regional Administrator for Construction Loren Plisco.
Fuller and Abbott will be assisted by Marilyn Evans, who is also the site secretary for the NRC resident inspector office overseeing the two operating units at the Vogtle site.
Each operating U.S. commercial nuclear power plant site has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the facility, conducting regular inspections, monitoring significant work projects, and interacting with plant workers and the public. Inspectors can serve for up to seven years at any one site. Construction sites will have their own NRC resident inspectors and the number assigned will be dependent on the work being done at each site.