Senate EPW Democrats continue to question NRC’s role under Trump

Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voiced concerns Wednesday on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s independence and its ability to ensure nuclear safety.

In particular, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) asked if any commissioners feared being fired by President Donald Trump’s administration if they deemed a reactor design unsafe, or failed to make a decision within the allotted timeline.

NRC Chair David Wright said he would make the right decision in terms of nuclear safety and licensing, regardless of the possibility of getting terminated.

Commissioners Matthew Marzano and Bradley Crowell both said there is always a chance to be terminated from the agency. “I think on any given day I can be fired by the [Trump] administration for reasons unknown,” Crowell said.

Despite the possibility of termination, Marzano clarified that the NRC will not license an unsafe reactor design. 

The Trump administration has sought to overhaul NRC in an effort to speed up new nuclear plant licensing. 

In addition to an executive order seeking agency reform, there have been significant  personnel departures including the termination of Commissioner Christopher Hanson by Trump and the resignation of Commissioner Annie Caputo.

The agency’s workload has increased thanks to a flood of nuclear plant applications and many of the Democrats expressed concern the White House would push NRC to forgo safety measures and rubber stamp nuclear license applications.

The three commissioners reiterated that safety would continue to be the agency’s priority, despite the increasing workload. Wright called safety the agency’s “North Star”.

Wright also sought to address concerns on whether NRC was being forced to “rubber stamp” applications. In response to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Wright said he was at the meeting where the “rubber stamp” comment was originally made by Department of Energy Office of the General Counsel senior legal adviser Seth Cohen. 

According to Wright, Cohen made the comment, apparently believing that was the intent of the May 23 executive orders.

NRC and DOE members pushed back on Cohen’s comment and Wright said he would not put its name on anything that has not been fully vetted by the agency. 

DOE Office of Nuclear Energy principal deputy assistant secretary Mike Goff and Office of Nuclear Energy assistant secretary of energy nominee Ted Garrish were also in attendance at the meeting, Wright said.