In a hearing this week, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said two would-be commissioners should stake out clearer positions on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed decommissioning rule for nuclear power plants.
Markey spoke at the tail end of a nomination hearing Wednesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, whom President Joe Biden on May 3 nominated to become NRC commissioners. If confirmed, they would fill the commission to capacity at five members. By law, only three of five NRC commissioners may belong to the same political party.
Both former Senate staffers, Caputo has served on the commission previously and departed only last year, in June. Crowell, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources since 2016, would be a new face at NRC.
Markey, who has an antinuclear bent and has roundly criticized the NRC’s efforts to amend its decommissioning rule to eliminate red tape for industry, told Caputo and Crowell to “firm up” their positions about the rulemaking, which the NRC could finalized by October 2023, an agency staffer said this week.
The rule, Markey complained Wednesday, rehashing harsh public criticisms from years past, “fails to strengthen the decommissioning process” and “and would prioritize industry savings ahead of community safety.”
Markey asked both Caputo, a Republican, and Crowell, a Democrat, whether they agreed that the decommissioning rule should explicitly give members of the public a chance to provide input to the NRC before the commission votes to approve a nuclear plant’s post shutdown decommissioning report.
“It’s somewhat difficult for me to answer that, not having served on the commission, but in general, yes,” Crowell told Markey. “[T]he participation and support from the community, whether it’s decommissioning or creating a new nuclear power plant are critical, they’re essential.”
Earlier in the hearing, Crowel said that “[i]f we don’t have that trust of states and communities, particularly on the decommissioning side, then they’re not going to trust us on establishing new nuclear technologies in the United States.”
Caputo told Markey that she was “hesitant to comment” on the proposed decommissioning rule because she left the commission months before the three current commissioners approved it 2-1 in early November 2021.
Markey alone cannot hold up Caputo and Crowell’s nominations.
The Senate is split 50/50 between Republicans and Democrats, with Democrats holding the tie-breaking vote in Vice President Kamala Harris (D). The chamber’s committees are likewise split evenly, so presidential nominees who have to advance from a committee on a roll-call vote need bipartisan support.
Caputo and Crowell appeared Wednesday to have it, with Sen. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.), the committee’s ranking Republican, pledging to support both nominees.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the chair, said he was “looking forward to committee consideration of both of your nominations in the coming week.”
