Washington D.C. – President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy said Wednesday if confirmed he intends to focus on deployment of advanced reactors and addressing waste storage.
Nominee Thedore (Ted) Garrish, who previously served in the role in the late 1980s, said in his prepared statement to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that nuclear energy faced different challenges then than it does today. But Garrish said that the United States is on the threshold of a nuclear power resurgence.
“First and foremost, as soon as feasible we need to build a new reactor, both large or small (Small Modular Reactor or micro),” Garrish said in his opening statement.
“Second, development of robust domestic enrichment industry is essential for our national security, and we must conduct a realistic evaluation of our current system under development and determine if our current methodology will work and whether additional actions are required,” Garrish went on to say in his prepared remarks. The nominee also wants to see more international agreements on nuclear power development.
In response to questions from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) Garrish said the Department of Energy’s immediate goal would be to get a new nuclear plant licensed and operating as soon as possible.
Lee followed up by asking what the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy would do to collaborate with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to accelerate new reactor projects. Garrish said he intends to collaborate with the NRC while providing direct information to the NRC to accelerate the license process.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked Garrish if he supports revival of the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada as a waste repository. Cortez Masto cited Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and President Trump in saying there are no plans to revive Yucca Mountain. Garrish concurred with Trump and Wright’s statement.
Cortez Masto later asked Garrish if he would maintain support for the consent-based siting selection process. Garrish said he prefers to work with states “more collaboratively” as he claimed the phrase “consent-based” infers that it is doing something to state that they may not want.
“I would propose initially to go with a system more collaboratively than consent-based,” Garrish said.
President Trump nominated Garrish on Feb. 3. If confirmed, Garrish would lead the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. A recording of the hearing can be found online.
