An independent nuclear regulator is vital in order to preserve confidence in nuclear power in the United States and internationally, three former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairs said in a recent opinion piece.
Former NRC chairs Stephen Burns, Allison Macfarlane and Richard Meserve published an opinion piece on Monday in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, urging continued independence of the nuclear regulator amid various actions under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The NRC has set safety requirements that have become the global gold standard for nuclear regulation,” the former NRC chairs wrote. “The White House actions threaten to undermine this record.”
Reducing the agency’s independence while mixing promotion of nuclear energy and responsibility for safety could be a recipe for “corner-cutting at best and catastrophe at worst,” the ex-chairs said.
The reputation of United States reactor vendors could be hurt by the lack of an independent regulator, they added. “If it becomes clear that the NRC has been forced to cut corners on safety and operate less transparently, US reactor vendors will be hurt,” the former commissioners wrote.
The former commission heads said they penned their op-ed piece after talking with former NRC chairs and retired NRC officials. Generally, they cited a shared concern with the recent changes with the agency under the Trump Administration.
Trump has ordered accountability for all agencies in a February executive order, including NRC, which gave the Office of Government and Budget power to oversee independent agencies.
In Trump’s nuclear-related executive actions in May, one of the orders were to overhaul the NRC within 18 months and in another order, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy, it allows for construction on federal land, that belongs to DOE and Department of Defense, without review by the NRC.
Additionally, last month Trump removed NRC commissioner and former chair Chris Hanson from his position.
The three former NRC chairs condemned the recent White House actions. They said the push for domestic nuclear energy can be undermined by the current reduction of NRC staff.
Since the Three Mile Island accident, the NRC has licensed nearly 50 reactors and has recently issued construction permits for advanced reactors ahead of schedule, said the three former chairs.
The three acknowledged that processes of the NRC could be improved and applauded the Congressional efforts with the bipartisan passage of the ADVANCE Act of 2024.
While the former chairmen did not offer any solutions, they collectively doubled down on the importance of the NRC remaining its independence as the country’s nuclear regulator.
“The US nuclear industry is helped by the fact that it has a strong independent regulator behind it,” the former NRC chairs said. “The White House’s executive orders may produce the opposite effect from their stated purpose.”
Burns previously served as NRC chair from 2015 to 2017, Macfarlane served in the NRC chair role from 2012 to 2014 and Meserve led the Commission from 1999 to 2003.