By Thomas Gardiner
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission member called “relatively unknown outside Capitol Hill” when he was confirmed for the post in 2014 was nominated Tuesday by the White House for another term.
Jeff Baran joined the commission on Oct. 14, 2014, for a term that ends June 30, 2018. If approved by the Senate, he would serve a second term through June 30, 2023.
Baran was a Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill for more than a decade. Since joining the commission, his areas of focus have included the NRC’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan and oversight of reactors going into decommissioning, according to his official NRC biography.
Baran’s reappointment has become intertwined with the Trump administration’s nomination of two new members to fill vacancies on the five-person commission: Annie Caputo, a nuclear engineer and Republican staffer for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
When the Senate panel in July voted in favor of Caputo and Wright’s nominations, Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) reminded his colleagues that he wanted to see their nominations paired with Baran’s.
Environment and Public Works will consider Baran’s nomination. No confirmation hearing was shown on the committee’s website as of Friday. Carper’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor.
Caputo and Wright are also awaiting votes from the full Senate, which sources have said should occur this fall.
The other commission members are Chairman Kristine Svinicki, who was confirmed in June to a third term through June 30, 2022; and Stephen Burns, the former chairman whose terms ends June 30, 2019.
