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. 97-108 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Friday, July 25, 1997)

THADANI NAMED ACTING SUCCESSOR TO JORDAN; KNAPP

APPOINTED ACTING HEAD OF RESEARCH OFFICE

Ashok C. Thadani, currently Director of the NRC Office of

Nuclear Regulatory Research, will become the agency's acting

Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Effectiveness, effective

August 3.

Mr. Thadani will succeed Edward L. Jordan, who is retiring.

Dr. Malcolm R. Knapp has been appointed acting Director of

the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. He is currently

Deputy Director of the NRC Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and

Safeguards. His appointment also is effective August 3.

The managerial changes were announced by L. Joseph Callan,

NRC Executive Director for Operations.

Mr. Thadani, a chemical engineering graduate of the

University of Tennessee with a master's degree from Catholic

University of America, has held progressively more responsible

positions since beginning government service in 1974 as a reactor

engineer for NRC's predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy

Commission. He was named to head the Office of Nuclear

Regulatory Research last month after several years' service as

associate director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Dr. Knapp has been Deputy Director of the Office of Nuclear

Materials Safety and Safeguards for more than two years. Since

first joining NRC in 1979, he has held several key supervisory

posts related to radioactive waste management. For three years,

he was director of the Division of Radiation Safety and

Safeguards in NRC Region I, King of Prussia, Pa.

Dr. Knapp holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Johns

Hopkins University and a doctorate from Carnegie-Mellon

University, all in chemical engineering. Before joining NRC, he

worked for the General Electric Co. in corporate research and

development.
Mr. Jordan, a veteran of 28 years' service with both NRC and

the Atomic Energy Commission, has been Deputy Executive Director

for Regulatory Effectiveness since the position was created in

January as part of a major agency reorganization. His retirement

takes effect on Friday, Aug. 1. The official in this post ˇ one

of three deputies to Mr. Callan ˇ is responsible for the Office

of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Office for Analysis and

Evaluation of Operational Data, Office of Investigations, and

Office of Enforcement.

At the time of his appointment in January, Mr. Jordan for

nearly 10 years had headed the Office for Analysis and Evaluation

of Operational Data. NRC activities he has influenced during his

career include the resident inspector program, incident response

and emergency preparedness, the diagnostic evaluation and

incident investigation programs, and the system of licensee

performance indicators.

Mr. Jordan earned the Presidential Rank of Distinguished

Executive in 1992; the Presidential Rank of Meritorious in 1987

and 1996; and the NRC Meritorious and Distinguished Service

Awards in 1987 and 1992. He is a graduate of Northwestern

Louisiana State University with a degree in physics and

mathematics, and did graduate work in nuclear engineering at

Southern Methodist University. Before beginning government

service, he worked in reactor design, testing and operation at

the General Dynamics Nuclear Aerospace Research Facility in Fort

Worth, Texas.

###