The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has selected Chuck
Norton as the new senior resident inspector and Tom McGowan as the
resident inspector at the Monticello nuclear power plant. The plant is
operated by Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota and is located in
Monticello, Minn., 38 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Norton joined the agency in 2007 as a project engineer in Region
IV and later was selected to be the resident inspector at the River Bend
nuclear power plant in Saint Francisville, La. He then worked as a project
manager in the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and soon after
joined the Fukushima Support Team. He was assigned to the Region III
office as a senior resident inspector at the Duane Arnold nuclear power
plant in Palo, Iowa. Prior to joining the agency, he served six years in the
U.S. Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. He was also a licensed senior reactor operator for 14 years
at the Quad Cities nuclear power plant and has worked as an operations evaluator with the Institute of
Nuclear Power Operations.
Norton holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a
master’s degree in business administration from Saint Ambrose University.
McGowan joined the agency in 2018 as a reactor engineer in
Region III. He also was an acting resident inspector at the Perry nuclear
power plant located in Perry, Ohio. Before joining the agency, he served
28 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a surface warfare officer. He also
worked more than 21 years in the nuclear industry at the Braidwood and
Dresden nuclear power plants and also with a transmission and
distribution company.
McGowan holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Each commercial nuclear power plant site in the United States has
at least two resident inspectors who monitor day-to-day operations at the
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plant. They serve as the agency’s eyes and ears at the facility, conducting inspections and monitoring
significant work projects.
The NRC resident inspectors at the Monticello facility can be reached at (630) 829-9989.
Original source can be found here.
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