NEWS RELEASE

Nuclear Energy Industry Laments Death Of Labor Union President Mark Ayers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer, Marvin Fertel, made the following remarks in reaction to the death of Mark Ayers, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. He was a member of NEI’s board of directors and served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, the body established by the Obama Administration to review policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new plan, which it did last January.

“The nuclear energy industry is greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Mark Ayers, an NEI board member and long-time friend.

“Mark improved the lives of many working men and women, and he will be greatly missed by those he touched. He played a huge role in changing the relationship that organized labor has with the U.S. nuclear energy industry, most notably through the project labor agreement that the building trades entered into for the Plant Vogtle expansion under way in Georgia. He was a persuasive and enthusiastic advocate for nuclear energy and for the skilled workers whom he represented, and his voice resonated with integrity.

“Mark’s legacy will live on through the programs he helped develop to train the next generation of workers, and I personally will miss his counsel and friendship. On behalf of the nuclear energy industry, I extend heartfelt sympathies to his family and to the union workers whose rights he championed.”