Partnerships with industry, foreign organizations, and other government agencies will become more common. Our joint research with the European Union, and the recent Memorandum of Understanding with DOE on Cooperative Nuclear Safety Research are good examples of this. As the costs of large-scale experimentation rise, we will have an increased need to leverage the work of others, even while maintaining our necessary independence on regulatory matters. In other words, our expertise and workforce would be leveraged internationally. So I hope you can see that the NRC and nuclear industry are at an exciting time.
Excitement brings new challenges.
A potential resurgence in the nuclear-industry may make the labor market tight. Even if there isn't a resurgence, NRC is deeply concerned about the loss of experience and expertise as our workforce ages and retires and is taking steps to proactively address the issue. And finally, our workforce is ever changing in response to a changing environment. It will take smart management with foresight and a workforce that is technically agile to deal with the challenges of the future. I believe that we not only need to leverage our expertise internally, but internationally as well.