Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) voted against David Wright’s renomination to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week citing concerns that NRC is losing its independence.
Wright’s nomination passed out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in a 10 to 9 vote on July 9. All of the Republicans on the committee voted yes, while all of the Democrats voted no.
Despite his support for nuclear energy and Wright, Whitehouse said he could not vote in favor of the nomination. The ranking Democrat said President Donald Trump’s administration is stripping away the agency’s independence and forcing out NRC staff despite the rise in nuclear plant applications.
“I asked the [NRC] chairman to uphold NRC independence and he nodded that he would, we saw that,” Whitehouse said in his opening statement at Wright’s nomination vote. “But what’s happening right now is making me increasingly concerned that he simply will not execute on his statements.”
In questions for the record submitted to Wright, Whitehouse said he discovered there was a Department of Energy (DOE) employee who has an office at the NRC building and supposedly does not have a NRC supervisor. Whitehouse suggested there is a DOE “hostile takeover” of the NRC to “expand its scope.”
With the DOE employee not having a NRC supervisor, Whitehouse said “there are rogue actors in the agency and its [the NRC] is in jeopardy.”
“The NRC is working quickly to implement the executive orders reforming the agency and modernizing our regulatory and licensing processes,” an NRC spokesperson said in response to an Exchange Monitor inquiry on Whitehouse’s July 9 statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration, DOE, and DoD [Department of Defense] on future nuclear programs.”
Wright’s nomination was submitted to the Senate June 16 by Trump.
Whitehouse was not the only one to raise questions about NRC’s independence. The Hill reported recently that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer has taken on a role at the NRC and implements Trump’s orders at the agency.
In effort to respond to recent accusations of the U.S. nuclear regulator stifling the nuclear sector through regulatory burdens, NRC issued a statement this week that it will work “consistent with recent White House Executive Orders and the bi-partisan ADVANCE Act” and will work to accelerate processes for advanced nuclear projects.
This month, NRC pledged to perform a 17-month review for Tennessee Valley Authority’s construction permit application for the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and a 19-month review for TerraPower’s construction permit application for the Kemmerer, Wyo. site.
NRC’s statement comes after months of various changes at the independent agency including President Donald Trump’s administration ordering an overhaul of the NRC in May and firing Commissioner Chris Hanson last month.
