ROCKVILLE, Maryland — From the 17th floor of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, Chairman Ho K. Nieh can see what he describes as a “memorial” to the nuclear energy renaissance that was expected in the early to mid-2000s, but that failed to materialize. It is a third agency building, just across the road, that was erected to support nearly double the number of employees than the commission has today, as regulators expected to see a flood of requests to build nuclear reactors across the United States.The building was never filled to its capacity and serves as a reminder for Nieh of the revival that was quickly killed by the “three F’s” – fracking, the financial crisis, and the Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011.
Now, roughly 20 years later, Nieh is spearheading the most significant regulatory changes in decades to ensure that this time, the nuclear revival won’t fall apart.
Ho K. Nieh, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speaks during an interview at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland, on Monday, June 8, 2026. (Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner)
Nieh’s path to leading the NRC began as a child living in New York as the son of Chinese immigrants. As he began to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, Nieh remembered watching his father work as a welder at the Indian Point nuclear power plant just 25 miles north of New York City.
