Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 20-061 December 22, 2020
NRC Names Mirela Gavrilas Director, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the appointment of Mirela Gavrilas as director, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, effective with the retirement of Brian Holian on Dec. 31, 2020.
Gavrilas, who joined the NRC in 2004 as a reactor systems engineer in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Research, currently serves as the deputy office director for Reactor Safety Programs and Mission Support in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. She is recognized for her many accomplishments, including the review of the construction permit for the SHINE Medical Technologies facilities, leading the development of the agency’s accident tolerant fuel plan and modernizing NRR’s workload management processes and metrics.
She has held several senior management positions in NRR, including serving as deputy director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking; deputy director, Division of Risk Assessment; and director, Division of Safety Systems. She also has expertise in international risk assessment and safety analysis.
Prior to joining the NRC, she served on the University of Maryland faculty, having led the first Nuclear Energy Agency/Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development international standard problem for computation fluid mechanics.
Gavrilas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a graduate of NRC’s 2014 Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.
