Nuclear Energy: August 2011

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Nuclear Energy: August 2011

Senate Hearing Moves NRC Towards Nuclear Reform, Airs Its Concern for Industry

Zoe Schlanger | August 2, 2011, 4:15PM

Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is not as fundamentally split as it previously appeared on the issue of post-Fukushima U.S. nuclear regulation, as a Tuesday Senate hearing showed. By the end of the hearing, the majority of the 5-person commission sounded reasonably ready to vote on at least a few of the recommended safety measures within 90 days.

It is, however, not doing much to dissuade rising murmurs and recent reports that the commission is too close to its industry, as it became evident that the primary roadblock to voting on the recommended safety measures was a concern for the lack of stakeholder input.

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Topics: Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders, NRC, Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy

In Wake Of Fukushima, U.S. Senate Hearing Examines U.S. Nuclear Industry

Zoe Schlanger | August 2, 2011, 9:45AM

When the five members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday, they will not be speaking as a unified body. Since the NRC task force released its report on what changes should be implemented at American reactors to prevent a Fukushima-like catastrophe on U.S. soil, the committee has been publicly split and struggling on how to respond. The NRC chairman and another commissioner formed a two-person minority, calling for decisions on the recommendations within 90 days, while a three-member majority opposed swift action, saying they lacked sufficient basis to alter nuclear standards.

The committee chairman, Gregory Jaczko, has been outspoken in his support of the task force's recommendations to establish a uniform framework of regulations, while Commissioner William C. Ostendorff told the NYT, "I personally do not believe that our existing regulatory framework is broken."