Three House Democrats have penned a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright requesting information on recent interactions between the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over agency roles in the nuclear sector.
Reps. Diane DeGette (D-Colo.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote to Wright in an Aug.13 letter.
The Democrats’ concerns come from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and DOE staffers’ current involvement with NRC, which is supposed to be an independent regulator of commercial nuclear power..
“DOE’s actions interfere with the normal work of NRC and appear to encroach upon NRC’s statutory licensing obligations,” the House Democrats said in the letter. “Because of that, we are concerned that the perception of the safety of American nuclear reactors may start to be questioned and that DOE may be acting contrary to the intent of the ADVANCE Act, the Atomic Energy Act, and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974.”
The three said their concerns further stem from reports of DOE staff detailed to NRC who reportedly told NRC staff that “‘DOE, DOD would approve stuff, and then NRC would be expected to just kind of rubber-stamp’ nuclear-safety related matters, including nuclear reactor licenses.” according to the letter. The letter cites an article in Politico as the source of the “rubber-stamp” quote.
Last month at NRC Chair David Wright’s nomination hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said he feared a DOE “hostile takeover” of NRC after inquiring that a DOGE staffer, detailed from DOE, current works at the NRC office with no NRC supervisor.
Along with the concerns of its independence, several senior NRC staff members have departed or been terminated from the regulatory agency in the past few months. In addition, two Senate-confirmed Commissioners Annie Caputo resigned and Christopher Hanson was terminated by President Donald Trump.
In turn, David Taggart, DOE’s deputy general counsel for litigation, was also listed as NRC’s chief counsel. The Democrats said they were unclear of what Taggart’s current role was and questioned if Taggart being assigned to both agencies was an attempt to get around the requirements for appointing general counsel under Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980.
Under the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, it requires that a general counsel can only be appointed at the initiation of the NRC Chairman, and with the approval of the Commission, according to the letter.
The Democrats said the troubling events pertaining to the NRC’s role and staff came after the May 23 executive orders issued by President Donald Trump to streamline nuclear deployment. Of the executive orders, one attempts to undermine the independence of the NRC, while another expands the scope of DOE’s licensing, which is typically the role of NRC, the three Democrats said in the letter.
The Democrats want the secretary of energy to provide the requested information by Aug. 27.
Pallone is the top Democrat of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Castor serves as the top Democrat of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee.
“It is in no one’s interest for the safety of America’s nuclear fleet to be questioned, particularly as we enter an era of increasing electricity demand,” the Democrats wrote. “But if DOE insists on its current path and on keeping Congress in the dark, we are concerned that future nuclear growth may be stifled before it can get off the ground.”
