The Democratic Party’s support for nuclear power legislation could be in jeopardy if the Donald Trump administration attempts to fire another commissioner from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said Tuesday.
Pallone’s comments during the House Energy and Commerce’s Energy subcommittee markup hearing on six nuclear bills came after the June 29 Supreme Court ruling in Trump vs. Slaughter, which constitutionally allows the president to remove chairpersons of independent executive agencies. Last June, Trump fired Chris Hanson, a then-NRC chair and commissioner.
“These actions jeopardize the safety of our nuclear industry and the public’s perception that the industry is safe and if the public loses confidence in nuclear energy, then we will never build more nuclear power in this nation,” Pallone said in his opening statement. “It’s that simple.”
Pallone, ranking Democrat of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, has continuously questioned NRC’s role under the Trump administration after Hanson’s firing and the nuclear-related executive orders from last May. Pallone still took issue with the firing and had concerns with the precedent it set for independent agencies’ authorities.
“Even though the majority on the Supreme Court may have blessed the illegal firing of NRC commissioners, I certainly do not,” Pallone said. “If the [Trump] administration attempts to fire or threatens to fire another NRC commissioner, [then] the Democratic support for nuclear legislation will evaporate. We’re not going to let Trump endanger the safety of millions of Americans.”
All five NRC commissioners and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have testified before the subcommittee this year in separate hearings, reiterating that NRC’s independence is intact and important to ongoing nuclear licensing activities and oversight.
Pallone said he has been content with the inclusion of the Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act bill being included in the hearing and NRC Chair Ho Nieh’s leadership at the agency to keep transparency as a priority. He said this work of transparency must be an ongoing effort.
Half of the nuclear bills at the markup were sponsored in a bipartisan way and most garnered bipartisan support during the hearing. The Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act, sponsored by Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), received some criticism from Democrats, saying that the bill would remove some independent technical assistance to the commission from the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards during a time when new and unproven reactor designs are seeking licenses.
All six of the bills passed through the subcommittee’s markup and will now be presented in front of the full committee.