Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Full Committee and Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety joint
hearing entitled, "Lessons from Fukushima One Year Later: NRC's
Implementation of Recommendations for Enhancing Nuclear Reactor Safety
in the 21st Century."
Wednesday, March 15th, 2012, 10:00 am
Thank you, Chairman Boxer, for holding this hearing and focusing on
implementing the lessons learned from Fukushima. The efforts will ensure
that the safety of nuclear plants in the U.S., and around the world,
will be enhanced and the use of nuclear energy sustained over the long
term.
Ensuring the safe use of nuclear energy is a very serious job. That is
why Congress established an independent commission, the NRC, and charged
five commissioners with the responsibility to protect public health and
safety. The public is best served by a commission that functions
collectively and collegially to pool their expertise. That is why I'm
anxious to see progress on the renomination of Commissioner Svinicki
which I hope President Obama sends us soon. She is due for renomination
in June, and given the scope of issues before the Commission, it is
important that the agency continues to benefit from her valuable
expertise.
As Chairman Jaczko frequently reminds us, we can't be complacent in
regard to nuclear safety. At the same time we can't allow ourselves to
be paralyzed by fear. Harnessing any energy source carries some measure
of risk that must be safely managed.
For the first time in 34 years, the NRC has issued a license to build
two new reactors creating 3500 construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs.
This is a true milestone in the Agency's history and reflects well on
the Commissioners present and past that worked so hard to prepare for
new applications. Congratulations to those of you who have worked on
this license. The Chairman split with his fellow commissioners and
opposed the license saying: "I can't support issuing this license as if
Fukushima had never happened. But without this license condition, in my
view, that is what we are doing." In fact, one month later, the
Commission voted for the new Vogtle units to receive the same Orders
issued to existing plants. There was no need for Chairman Jaczko to take
his "my way or the highway" approach here, lashing out at his colleagues
and implying that they were ignoring the lessons of Fukushima. These
Orders, reflecting the lessons of Fukushima, are as applicable at Vogtle
as they are at any U.S. facility.
License
renewal is an issue I have worked on for over a decade. When I chaired
the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee beginning in 1996, we made
sure the NRC was prepared to review license renewal applications
efficiently, in 24 months (or 30 months if it was contentious). In
Massachusetts, the Pilgrim plant filed its application over six years
ago. For almost five years, three of those years under Chairman Jaczko's
leadership, Pilgrim has been subjected to an unprecedented cycle of
contentions and petitions from interveners. Chairman Jaczko again
dissented from his colleagues in a recent Commission decision on yet
another petition. He wanted to lower a long-established threshold for
contentions to allow even more delay to the renewal process.
Chairman Jaczko gave a speech last month and stated that one scenario
for nuclear energy's future includes new plant construction and license
extensions. He said the other scenario, which is "just as plausible" is
that the industry is "unsustainable" and "dominated by a process of
continuing decommissioning." He said "I think today there are a number
of decisions about nuclear safety and actions related to nuclear safety
that may move you on one of those paths versus the other path."
It's clear which path Chairman Jaczko prefers and it's no secret that I
strongly disagree with him on that. As NRC Chairman he takes every
opportunity to portray himself as the sole commissioner most dedicated
to public safety while condemning his colleagues and doing his utmost to
hinder and delay licensing actions.
To the other four Commissioners, let me say that your debates and
disagreements are healthy and respectful. Your actions may prevent the
imposition of an unpredictable regulatory burden that makes nuclear
energy economically unfeasible, much the way EPA regulations are driving
the premature shutdown of coal-fired power plants. It's up to you four
to uphold the NRC's reputation for reasoned and balanced regulation.
