Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine L. Svinicki to Join Southern Company Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Southern Company today announced the election of Kristine L. Svinicki as an independent director, effective Oct. 17, 2021. Svinicki joins the Business Security and Resiliency Committee and the Operations, Environmental and Safety Committee.

“As the longest serving member in the history of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Kristine brings to Southern Company a wealth of experience advising energy policy at the federal and state levels,” said Southern Company chairman, president and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. “Kristine’s knowledge of and expertise in nuclear technologies will be invaluable as we pursue the full range of energy resources. Moreover, Kristine’s insight into the energy challenges of tomorrow places Southern Company in a prime position to serve customers, communities, employees and stockholders well into the future. This addition to our board is another example of the prominence Southern Company places on corporate governance, risk oversight, board refreshment, transparency and diversity within our strategic goals.”

The Honorable Kristine Svinicki was appointed a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by three U.S. presidents, becoming that organization’s longest-serving member. She was designated chairman of the NRC on January 23, 2017 and stepped down as chairman earlier this year after more than 30 years of public service.

Before joining the NRC, Svinicki spent over a decade as a staff member in the U.S. Senate working on issues related to national security; science and technology; and energy and the environment. She also served as a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee where she was responsible for the committee's portfolio of defense science and technology programs and policies, and for the atomic energy defense activities of the U.S. Department of Energy, including nuclear weapons, nuclear security and environmental programs.

Previously, Svinicki worked as a nuclear engineer in the U.S. Department of Energy's Washington, D.C. Offices of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, and of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, as well as its Idaho Operations Office, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Before that, she was an energy engineer with the State of Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission in Madison, Wisconsin.

Born and raised in Michigan, Svinicki holds a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, where she currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences in the College of Engineering. She also sits on the board of TerraPower.

She is a longstanding member of the American Nuclear Society and the Society has twice honored her with its Presidential Citation in recognition of her contributions to the nuclear energy policies of the United States.