NRC taps Project Performance for four tech projects

At a time when many of the country's more than 100 nuclear power reactors in operation are approaching the end of their useful life spans, the NRC expects as many as 20 nuclear power plants to submit applications for new licenses using one of four new designs approved for reactors. The agency is responsible for reviewing and approving the license applications.Under the first contract, PPC will oversee project management processes and systems that will let the NRC review license applications from private utilities that want to build nuclear reactors. It also will build a Web-based scheduling system to help the agency monitor licensing projects.The task is a challenge for the NRC, which has never had to evaluate this many new applications simultaneously, said Craig Cheney, PPC's vice president and head of the company's Project Management Center of Excellence, which will perform the licensing work.PPC of McLean, Va., is a management and technology consulting firm that specializes in IT, energy, environmental and security solutions. The company has 250 employees. The company's other federal clients include the departments of Commerce, Defense, Housing and Human Services, Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation and Treasury departments, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Postal Service.