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The transformation of the NRC: 50 years of commissioners
The dust is beginning to settle following the whirlwind of changes at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the past year, and 2025 ultimately may be viewed as a transformative year, as well as the year the NRC celebrated its golden anniversary. The 12 months of that milestone year brought more change to the agency in its composition, its mandate, and its relationship to the executive branch than any comparable period in the preceding four decades.
Now at 51 years and counting, the NRC is working with a full commission and issuing new rulemakings to both regulate and support the next round of nuclear deployments. With the turbulence of 2025 still fresh in our minds, Nuclear News decided it was a good time to revisit the professional backgrounds of all 42 NRC commissioners who have served over the agency’s 50-year history to see how the composition of the commission has evolved over time.
James S. Tulenko was the 50th President of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). He has been a member of the Society since 1972 and is a member of four ANS Professional Divisions: Education, Training & Workforce Development, Fuel Cycle & Waste Management , Material Science & Technology, and Robotics & Remote Systems. He is also an ANS Fellow, the highest membership grade of the Society.
He was educated at Harvard receiving both his undergraduate degree and Masters. Following graduation, Tulenko served in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers as 1st Lieutenant, Platoon Leader, C Company, 20th Engineer Battalion.
Upon completion of his active service he entered MIT, and upon graduation spent the next 23 years in the nuclear industry as Manager, Nuclear Fuel Engineering at Babcock and Wilcox; Manager of Physics at Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp, and Manager, Nuclear Development at United Nuclear Corp.
He then spent 30 years in the academic field serving as Chairman of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida for sixteen years (1986-2001) and then 15 years as an Emeritus Professor and Director of the Laboratory for development of Advanced Fuels and Materials at the University of Florida.
Tulenko’s history with ANS has been impressive. He was presented with the Silver Anniversary Award of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) for his contributions to the nuclear fuel cycle in the Society’s first 25 years, received the Mishima Award, and was awarded the Arthur Holly Compton Award.
His involvement at ANS included being the Chair of the Fuel Cycle & Waste Management, and the Material Science and Technology Divisions. He served as Chair of the Robotics and Remote Systems Divisions twice.
He was the ANS representative to the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, the Applied Science Commission and the ABET Board of Directors. He also served on the Board of Directors of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and was the ASEE First Vice President, Vice President of the Professional Interest Council, Professional Interest Council 1.
Read Nuclear News from July 2004 for more on Jim.
