United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 96-184 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Friday, December 13, 1996)

MERSCHOFF, DYER NAMED TO TOP POSTS IN NRC REGION IV

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has named Ellis W.

Merschoff as the new Regional Administrator and James E. Dyer as

new Deputy Regional Administrator of NRC Region IV, which has

offices in Arlington, Texas.

Mr. Merschoff is currently director of the Division of

Reactor Projects in the Region II office in Atlanta, while Mr.

Dyer is director of the Region IV Division of Reactor Projects.

They will succeed L. Joseph Callan and Samuel J. Collins, whose

appointments to positions in NRC headquarters were recently

announced. Mr. Callan will be the new NRC Executive Director for

Operations, and Mr. Collins will be the new Director of the

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Mr. Merschoff's appointment will become effective in May.

Until that time, Mr. Dyer will serve as acting Region IV Regional

Administrator, beginning in mid-February, when Mr. Callan and Mr.

Collins assume their new duties.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Mr. Merschoff also

holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After his graduation from

the academy, he served as a naval officer on a nuclear-powered

guided missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Mr. Merschoff joined NRC in 1980 as a nuclear engineer in

the headquarters Office of Standards Development. Later, he held

progressively more responsible positions in the Office of Nuclear

Regulatory Research, Office of Inspection and Enforcement, and

the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. He also headed the

Vendor Inspection Branch in NRC headquarters.

Transferring to the Atlanta regional office in 1987, he was

deputy director of the Division of Reactor Safety for three years

before being named to his present position in 1990. Mr.

Merschoff led a special NRC assessment team which recently

examined conditions at the Maine Yankee plant. Earlier, he led

an NRC diagnostic evaluation at the Cooper Nuclear Station in
Nebraska.

Mr. Dyer is a graduate of the University of California at

Davis, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. After

his graduation he served as an officer on a Navy nuclear-powered

submarine. Later, he earned a master's degree in business

administration from Frostburg (Md.) State University and an

associate of arts degree in accounting from Montgomery College.

He joined NRC in 1983, working first as an inspector and

later as a team leader in the headquarters Office of Inspection

and Enforcement. Subsequent assignments were as a section chief

in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and as chief of the

regional operations staff in the Office of the Executive Director

for Operations.

Beginning in 1990, Mr. Dyer served in three managerial

positions in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. In June

1994, he was assigned to Region IV as deputy director of the

Division of Reactor Projects, and became the division director in

July 1995.

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