▶ 0:16:03Chair Capito: Welcome back. I note the presence of a quorum and will call this business meeting to order. Thank you all for being here. For information of numbers of the committee, ranking member whitehouse and I will deliver our opening statement in which we have sufficient attendance, we will go through the 10 resolutions on block and will proceed to vote on one pending nominee. After the roll call vote, members wish to be recognized to speak on the nomination may do so.
▶ 0:16:31Chair Capito: So now I will give my opening statement to welcome and thank my colleagues for attending today, but also to vote on the nomination of katherine scarlett to be a member of the council on environmental quality orceq environmental quality orc ceq.
▶ 0:16:49Chair Capito: As the current chief of staff, she has worked with federal agencies to limit the bipartisan fiscal spots ability act and coordinate updates to agencies's individual procedures to reflect recent court decisions and executive policies. She has also led the effort of this administration to modernize through the use of technology. Prior to her current position, she worked here for me at the committee in epw and served at both ceq and the federal permitting improvement steering council in the previous trump administration.
▶ 0:17:21Chair Capito: Experiences that make her well qualified to lead the council. I urge my colleagues to support his nomination and look forward to her swift consideration on the floor. I also encourage my colleagues to support the 10 gsa resolutions that will authorize important repair and alteration projects across the country. With that, I will turn to ranking member whitehouse for his opening statement.
▶ 0:17:41Sen. Whitehouse: Thanks very much. I understand we will take up jeffrey hall at some later opportunities. I will reserve comment on him other than to let the colleagues on my side know that I vociferously oppose his nomination to the enforcement office, whose policy nowadays seems to be not enforcement, basically the polluter fox is in the henhouse. It is a sad state of affairs.
▶ 0:18:09Sen. Whitehouse: As to miss scarlett, I support the work that ceq under her leadership is undertaking to update objects, to modernize the federal permitting process. I will vote yes on her nomination. This work is long overdue. In november, a D.C. circuit panel ruled without anybody raising the issue that ceq lacked the authority to issue regulations.
▶ 0:18:34Sen. Whitehouse: That leaves our fractured agencies to develop each their own guidance, creating inefficient patchwork of divergent rules and inconsistent applications of a law. This makes permitting reform and even greater priority. I look forward to working with miss scarlett to advance that ball.
▶ 0:18:58Sen. Whitehouse: However, how can we do permitting reform in the face of an administration that seems lawless lead to disrespect the permitting and appropriations process?
▶ 0:19:15Sen. Whitehouse: If we were to work out a deal, and I hope we will, what is the point if the president and his cronies can just simply ignore the law and do whatever it is they wish based on special interest influence? That seems to be where we are right now. If they are not following well-established laws, why would we trust them to follow a new permitting reform law? There will have to be some clarity about that as we move toward permitting reform.
▶ 0:19:46Sen. Whitehouse: Two things happened in rhode island during the course of the break I want to flag for my colleagues. One, a grant for the port of davisville was simply undone by the administration. It is hard to know exactly what was intended. As ranking member, I did not get the courtesy of an advanced call saying this was coming.
▶ 0:20:12Sen. Whitehouse: It just blew up in the paper suddenly that all of these port dollars were gone. We have seen what I call the heresy hunt where you have to go through applications and remove heretical language that the far-right does not like, like equity or climate, that kind of stuff. If this is a heresy hunt moby can keep going with the grant if we can change the words so people are not triggered and offended by language in the original application. Ok, that is one thing.
▶ 0:20:45Sen. Whitehouse: We are trying to get an answer to that. If it is just blowing up, that is another thing. If the goal is to target offshore wind, which I think is an idiotic mistake, the part of davisville is a lot more than offshore wind. It is the largest car entrant in new england in the northeast. Huge business there. It is an all facility that needs piers rebuilt because of age.
▶ 0:21:16Sen. Whitehouse: It is right adjacent to where we build our submarines. And so we can find a lot of uses for that money if the problem that it has an offshore wind contingent to it, or we can find rhode island uses for that money, but I need to sort that out.
▶ 0:21:34Sen. Whitehouse: I don't think it is sensible to go forward in a situation in which the administration is unilaterally yanking funding without notice to the ranking member on the committee, without a proper explanation or understanding how you repair that. The same thing happened with respect to revolution wind.
▶ 0:21:54Sen. Whitehouse: What either takes the pride in having been the place to figure out the sighting for offshore wind and an enormous thing emerge. 1000 trade workers were putting their gear together to go out and do their well-paid work on this facility, which is already 80% complete.
▶ 0:22:23Sen. Whitehouse: Out of the clear blue sky with no notice or warning came a stop work order bringing the entire project to a halt. The vessels working on it came up in the bay because they had no work to do out there. There has been no plausible explanation of why other than the individual predilections of a president who does not like windmills.
▶ 0:22:48Sen. Whitehouse: They sent national security -- they said national security but there are no explanations what national security is or why just for this region but not off of the norfolk naval station and that is used far more for aviation and navy operations in our area -- than our area. So it makes no sense whatsoever.
▶ 0:23:13Sen. Whitehouse: In an environment where people are being hurt like that for what seemed to be just oddball unjustified reasons, again, you could not be making it harder to get permitting reform. To get permitting reform. Done, to get highways done.
▶ 0:23:40Sen. Whitehouse: If the purpose, if this was a strategy to make democrats aggravated so they would not do those bills, it would be hard for the ministration to improve on what it is doing. To the chairman, I know you worked with me on a lot of things. I appreciate your continued effort and hope we can continue to work our way through these problems as we have others in the past.
▶ 0:24:05Sen. Whitehouse: But these are real problems when stuff is just unilaterally spontaneously out of the place without warning or explanation blown up in the face of literally 1000 workers who are putting their gear together that week to go out to the job and suddenly are unemployed. That just is not what I think workers expected if they voted for trump, and it certainly is damaging and aggravating in rhode island so I will leave it at that. Thank you for hearing me out.
▶ 0:24:35Chair Capito: Thank you. And at this time, I will ask senators to hold the remarks until after the votes. To begin, the wrecking number and I have considered the resolutions before us are blocked by voice vote. I vote to consider 10 committee resolutions to approve prospectuses from the general services administration. Is there a second? Thank you. Yes, all those in favor say aye. All as opposed, say nay.
▶ 0:25:06Chair Capito: With that, the resolution is approved. I will now call up presidential nomination 345-16, katherine scarlett of ohio to be the member of the council on environmental quality. I move for this favorably. Is there a second? Thank you very much. >> this alsobrooks --ms Ms. this also -- Ms.
▶ 0:25:38Chair Capito: Alsobrooks. Mr. curtis. Mr. graham.
▶ 0:25:43Chair Capito: Aye by proxy. >> miss lummis. Mr. markey. >> no by proxy. >> Mr. padilla. Mr. ricketts. Mr. schiff. Mr. sullivan. Mr. whitehouse. Mr. wicker. Madam chairman.
▶ 0:26:13Chair Capito: Aye. The clerk will report the yays and nays. >> madam chairman, the yays are 12, the nays are 7.
▶ 0:26:27Chair Capito: I note the presence of a quorum. Thanks again to all of our members for being here. We will be taking up the nomination of jeffrey hall at a later date. Does any member wish to speak on the nomination? With that, we will go ahead and move to the business portion of our meeting. The business portion is included. We will have our testimony so if you all would like to move to the dais.
▶ 0:26:51Sen. Whitehouse: There will be an opportunity to speak on the whole nomination when she is called up, correct?
▶ 0:26:56Chair Capito: Yes, absolutely.
▶ 0:26:58Sen. Whitehouse: Thank you.
▶ 0:27:08Chair Capito: I get, good morning. I have said good morning a lot. Nothing wrong with saying good morning. Thank you all for being here. I hope everyone is rested and happy. We are really excited. Obviously, the ranking member is very happy. He is happy as can be. Just expressed that -- he just expressed that. We are being honest.
▶ 0:27:41Chair Capito: This morning, we will hold our first oversight meeting on the nuclear regulatory commission, the first one we had since march of 2023. Since our last oversight hearing, the outlook for the nuclear industry continues to rapidly evolve, and with that the work issues pending have significantly changed.
▶ 0:28:01Chair Capito: And management and manamerican homes and businesses need more affordable and reliable energy and need the power as soon as possible. As our nation's nuclear safety regulator, the nrc is central to determining nuclear power in our energy system.
▶ 0:28:23Chair Capito: Decades, the -- for decades, it took too long, cost too much, and did not have an efficient process to modernize outdated regulations. That is why I worked with ranking member whitehouse to get the advanced act signed into law last year. The act was passed to spur the commission to give this commission the tools to take urgent ball steps to set the agency on the right course for the next generation of nuclear energy.
▶ 0:28:50Chair Capito: Since the bill was signed into law, the nrc staff and commission has been hard at work implementing the law. The commission updated its mission statement for the first time in 35 years since the nrc first articulate a mission in 1990 first articulate a mission in. This mission statement must now guide both the staff and the commission in their daily work.
▶ 0:29:17Chair Capito: Ultimately, the nrc's success will be judged on what they do, not just what they say. Let me establishing clear and achievable safety regulations and approving licensing actions and efficient, affordable, and timely manner. This is where president trump's executive orders complement the advanced act.
▶ 0:29:38Chair Capito: President trump issued executive order 14300 in may to reform the nrc by establishing clear licensing deadlines, reconsidering how the agency is organized, and revising outdated regulations. I support president trump subjective to enable the quick and safe deployment of nuclear power. The initial science to improve licensing efficiencies are encouraging. In august, I visited wyoming, first time I have ever been to wyoming. It is a beautiful state.
▶ 0:30:09Chair Capito: A lot of wide-open spaces in wyoming. >> I was sorry I missed you that day.
▶ 0:30:13Chair Capito: We were. >> the labor secretary came out. I was with her in that same mind. We thank you so much for coming.
▶ 0:30:22Chair Capito: We learned a lot. It is the construction site of a leading innovative nuclear company. I heard how the nrc is revising its processes to help expedite the construction of advanced nuclear reactors. Since initially accepting the application, the nrc has considerably shortened the review time to reflect and improved approval process.
▶ 0:30:47Chair Capito: The nrc approved the request are separate nuclear and nonnuclear energy systems to allow the state of wyoming to permit part of the system while the nrc completes the safety review. To make these changes predictable and durable, the commission must ensure they can be repeated in future license applications, and the nrc staff must execute the streamlined processes.
▶ 0:31:12Chair Capito: Ultimately it is the commission's responsibility to set nrc policy, approved nuclear recommendations, and adjudicate disputes. The commissioner must respond to oversight and we will continue to hold them accountable for their decisions as the ongoing work of them and their staff. Staff has initiated a cooperative review, a revision of all of the nrc relations pursuant to the executive order. This is an enormous task that must be done during our must be done during o.
▶ 0:31:44Chair Capito: -- done deliberately. Through all of the various initiatives, the nrc must not lose sight of the central role of ensuring nuclear safety. To be successful in this effort, the nrc must work with us in congress, the regulative community, and other stakeholders.
▶ 0:32:02Chair Capito: That is why we are here this morning, so we can hear the commission's plan to successfully implement the advance act and exec of orders on how they are prioritizing work. I am optimistic information we gather today will be useful in our ongoing blackhearts and efforts -- ongoing bipartisan efforts with ranking member whitehouse. With that, I will now recognize the ranking member for his opening statement.
▶ 0:32:29Sen. Whitehouse: Thank you, chairman. Welcome to the commissioners and the chair who are present. Nuclear energy is one of the most powerful tools in our energy arsenal to meet rising power demand and address the climate crisis. It is our largest source of zero carbon electricity.
▶ 0:32:52Sen. Whitehouse: Novel advanced reactor technologies are uniquely equipped to produce high temperature heat for industrial applications and can use the spent fuel to mitigate our nuclear waste problem. Dozens of new projects are being announced in moving forward.
▶ 0:33:13Sen. Whitehouse: Through passage of our bipartisan advance act last year and prior bipartisan reforms of which I was the lead democrat, congress equipped the nuclear regulatory commission to usher in a nuclear revival. Unfortunately, the trump administration is throwing unprecedented and dangerous obstacles into the nation's nuclear path.
▶ 0:33:36Sen. Whitehouse: Obstacles that threaten to derail our bipartisan progress, undermine the government support for nuclear energy, and put the public at risk. Some in the ministry should want to turn the nrc into a "rubber stamp" and have said so, using unaccountable and sometimes clueless staffers to restructure the agency and upend its rules.
▶ 0:34:08Sen. Whitehouse: Staffers with no background in nuclear energy are ousting nuclear experts at all levels of the agency and replacing them with under or unqualified staff. Adding uncertainty and delay in nuclear regulation and rerouting supposedly independent commission decisions through political operatives at the white house.
▶ 0:34:31Sen. Whitehouse: The industry stands or falls on the nrc's gold standard reputation for nuclear safety. It is now in jeopardy. Congress created the nrc with the primary goal to split the conflicting roles of the atomic energy commission whose encouragement of nuclear deployment came to overpower its safety mandate.
▶ 0:35:00Sen. Whitehouse: As the atomic energy commission safety record loss the agency, both public and industry confidenc, congress created the nuclear regulatory commission as the safety regulator, leaving the department of energy as the industry promoter. This regulatory firewall rebuild public trust, enabled the united states to safely develop and operate the world's largest and most effective nuclear fleet.
▶ 0:35:28Sen. Whitehouse: The department of energy, like many bureaucracies, now seems to seek territorial expansion into the nrc, and trumps doggy boys seem to seek whatever, reviving past mistakes by eroding the nrc's independence and injecting political favoritism into its processes or at least trying to. We see this interference in front of us today.
▶ 0:35:59Sen. Whitehouse: Three well-regarded commissioners sit here. There should be two more. Commissioner and previous chairman chris hansen was illegally fired by president trump. Commissioner capito had enough and left. We see this interference in nrc senior leadership. In july I showed this committee how the nrc had already lost seven senior-level managers.
▶ 0:36:23Sen. Whitehouse: Now f others haveour -- now four others have departed or announced their departure. Nrc reports 143 people departed between january and june, yet it hired only one person in the second quarter of the year because of the federal hiring freeze. More than 100 other staffers took the deferred resignation offer and will depart by the end of the year. It is a personnel bloodbath.
▶ 0:36:55Sen. Whitehouse: An industry built on 80 year investments with a 0% acceptable failure rate cannot withstand the loss of regulatory certainty and public trust. Particularly if it is damaged by doggy boys neophytes out to move fast and break things. What they will likely break will be this industry.
▶ 0:37:22Sen. Whitehouse: An independent nrc with in-house technical expertise is the way to U.S. nuclear dominance. I think chair capito and I agree on this.
▶ 0:37:37Sen. Whitehouse: Ensure the turmoil at the nrc subside, I look forward to working with her, members of this committee, and the commissioners, including newly reinstalled chairman david wright, to see the nrc keep delivering the full promise of nuclear energy that in a senate on a bipartisan basis we have worked so hard to encourage. Thank you.
▶ 0:38:02Chair Capito: Thank you to the ranking member. So the way we have set this up I think is the way it has been set up in the past, but our first witness is the chairman of the nrc, david wright. As we all know, chairman wright was confirmed to his third term in july. President trump has designated him to serve as the nrc chair. He was before five minutes, and the subsequent commissioners have three minutes to give their opening statements. Welcome, chairman wright.
▶ 0:38:34Chair Capito: It is nice to see you. You have five minutes to deliver your opening statement.
▶ 0:38:38Mr. Wright: Thank you so much. Ok. Chairman capito, ranking member whitehouse, an established member's of the committee, good morning. And thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Is an honor to serve as the chairman of the U.S. nuclear regulatory commission. I am grateful for the trust placed in me to continue leading this exceptional agency. My colleagues and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the nrc's licensing and oversight activities today.
▶ 0:39:08Mr. Wright: The nrc was established to make the commercial nuclear power plant, research, and test reactors, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and radioactive materials used in medicine, academia, and industry. The agency also regulates the transportation storage, and disposal of radioactive materials and waste, the export and import of radioactive materials, nuclear reactors, and fuel cycle facilities, and the export of nuclear facility components.
▶ 0:39:35Mr. Wright: This year marks the nrc's 50th anniversary, a milestone that marks five decades of commitment to public health and safety. Our success is rooted in the dedication and expertise of our workforce whose efforts have made the nrc the global gold standard in nuclear recommendation. I am proud to lead the agency at this dynamic time.
▶ 0:39:59Mr. Wright: The signing of the exit limited deployment of personal advanced nuclear for clean energy act a year ago has positioned the nrc to meet the nation's evolving and emerging energy security needs. Our focus remains firmly on the future and the advance act has been instrumental in laying the groundwork for the next 50 years.
▶ 0:40:21Mr. Wright: The act reinforces our mission focus and prioritizes safety, significant activities while embracing innovation. We are delivering on this mandate with urgency and purpose. The nrc is a public executive order 14300, which calls for a more agile regulatory framework to support the safe and timely deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.
▶ 0:40:48Mr. Wright: This directive challenges us to think differently, act decisively, and collaborate effectively across government. While we work in partnership with agencies such as the department of energy and the department of defense, the nrc remains was possible for commercial civilian licensing and oversight. We are establishing expedited pathways for reviewing reactor designs that have been demonstrated safe performance in federal programs.
▶ 0:41:16Mr. Wright: Additionally, we are updating our processes to provide reviews that are commensurate with the associated level of risk. At the same time, we are reinforcing our commitment to transparency and accountability. This is not just regulatory reform. It is a cultural transformation that positions the nrc to be a forward leading risk informed regulator for the future. The nrc is actively reforming its internal culture to become a more efficient and modern agency while maintaining our focus on safety.
▶ 0:41:45Mr. Wright: Consistent with the agency's new mission statement about the week shooting procedure for interactions with industry to drive quicker regulatory decisions through more effective communications. It establishes clear expectations about how nrc staff should be proactive in clarifying gaps in regulatory requirements, offering insights into potential solutions, and being helpful and responsive regulator.
▶ 0:42:12Mr. Wright: The nrc is also increasing accountability through a new project management initiative that ties metrics to individual performance. In may we approved the new scale U.S. 460 standard design two months early. We launched a risk informed acknowledging inclusive micro reactor licensing plan. Two months later, we extended terms from 15 to 40 years, reducing regulatory burden while maintaining safety.
▶ 0:42:41Mr. Wright: We also reached a historic milestone by completing key licensing actions to facilitate the restart of the palisades nuclear power plant come a potentially the first permanently shut down reactor to resume operations. This sets a precedent for future restart, including a reactor at the clean energy center and that doing arnold. Additionally, we completed the summer subsequent license renewal both early and under budget by budget extending operations through 2032.
▶ 0:43:14Mr. Wright: We began an unprecedented six month review for technologies, multistate radioactive materials licenses with 15,000 abandoned, many on tribal lands. This represents a significant advancement for the nrc made possible by the bipartisan support of congress. The nrc is delivering results, that matter is that interviews, streamlined relations, and a dedicated on streamlining.
▶ 0:43:43Mr. Wright: Our work is not just about recognition. It is about enabling a safer, more secure energy future for all americans. Thank you for your support of our mission, and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:43:53Chair Capito: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Our next witness is certainly someone who is no straighter to the committee. The commissioner was confirmed to serve as a member of the nrc in 2022 and has over 20 years of experience in energy and environmental policy, including having worked for ranking member whitehouse. Commissioner, welcome. You are recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, and good morning members of the committee.
▶ 0:44:27Chair Capito: The red button is on but the green light is not going.
▶ 0:44:30Chair Capito: Lean a little forward. Pull it a little closer.
▶ 0:44:35Mr. Crowell: Take two. Thank you for holding this hearing adequate time for the nrc and the safe operation and deployment of nuclear technologies. Today we find ourselves at a pivotal juncture that will determine the future of commercial nuclear power not just in the united states but around the world. When I began my tenure at the commission, it was exactly three years ago today. I had growing confidence in our ability to position the U.S.
▶ 0:45:03Mr. Crowell: As a world leader to deploy the next generation of nuclear technologies and do so while maintaining our hard earned world-class. Building and sustaining bipartisan support for spending the use of nuclear power and for needed nrc reform.
▶ 0:45:23Mr. Crowell: This committee harnessed the bipartisan momentum to pass essential legislation with the policy direction needed and the tools necessary to efficiently oversee the safe design and operation of the next generation of commercial nuclear power. Key legislation including 2019's modernization act and the 2024 advance act has accelerated our efforts sharpening the U.S. focus and creating an overall platform for success. I appreciate chairman wrig ht's testimony.
▶ 0:45:55Mr. Crowell: I will supplement it with a few notable additions. Since I joined the commission in 2022, we issued five licenses for new reactors have renewed the licenses for six reactor sites for a total of 10 individual reactor units. These have been renewed for 20 years and represent 10 gigawatts of generating capacity.
▶ 0:46:16Mr. Crowell: We have developed a rivalry latoya pathway to restart recently shut down reactors and approved the use of remediation technologies to accelerate the cleanup across the west. And we established a new revelatory structure. The rc staff is also currently engaged on over 30 advanced reactor project ranging from pre-application meetings to actively reviewing. It applications.
▶ 0:46:44Mr. Crowell: The nrc has continued to get things done. We should not lose sight of this fact. We can and we are making progress on all fronts. In may, the administration should executive order 14,300 woodring reform of the wright -- reform of the nrc. In this regard, the eeo is a welcome expression for the support of the integral role of the nrc catalyzing the safety climate of new systems.
▶ 0:47:15Mr. Crowell: However, I will reselect elements of this order and others will become a productive to achieve the goals of 14300 itself. I take the opportunity not to some confusion but based on conversations we had with numbers of this committee, other administration officials, and a wide range of stakeholders, I believe we share the same goals. Thus we need to work together to resolve any obvious hurdles that will undermine our collective efforts.
▶ 0:47:43Mr. Crowell: My greatest concern is the current and future wright workforce -- and future nrc workforce. This is an unsustainable dynamic. The advanced act provided tools to retain our growing workforce. Reductions would be on top of the historically high rate of attrition already happening this year in response to the different resignation program and other directives impacting employees.
▶ 0:48:12Mr. Crowell: As you saw in the chart, the nrc is not just losing technical experts but valuable senior executives. These challenges are compounded by the government wide hiring freeze until october combined with decreasing budgets. These conditions are not a recipe for success. I don't the recent report from the energy dominance working group that speaks clearly to adequately staffing agencies to ensure that nuclear fuel and reactors can be developed, licensed, funded, and cited.
▶ 0:48:46Mr. Crowell: Another caution, procedural success one observation to secure nuclear energy dominance without investor, customer, and public confidence in projects. One path to jeopardizing public confidence is to decrease transparency. It is especially true for nuclear energy. A significant portion of the reforms will involve rulemakings.
▶ 0:49:07Mr. Crowell: As we make progress modernizing the nrc, we must retain some ability to engage transparently with the regulative community and other stakeholders. Failing to do so risks undermining public trusts in the licenses essential. I am confident we can find meaningful public engagement without compromising the efficiency we desire. Finally, this disruption can counterbalance efficiencies gained and those still to be provided.
▶ 0:49:39Mr. Crowell: A regulatory website effect would strangle the nuclear renaissance. On this point, I draw your attention to the administration's energy dominance report. They must be compatible with existing processes to ensure project developers have full access to markets and that existing licensing work is not disrupted. Making the staff's job more difficult and licensing less political is antithetical.
▶ 0:50:10Mr. Crowell: Members of the committee, as of today, I have 655 days remaining in my current term. I want to report many more accomplishments to you during that time. While I have concerns, I want to share goals for a safe and prosperous future with optimism and confidence we can stay on the high-end of this slope and on the right side of history.
▶ 0:50:31Chair Capito: Thank you very much. Our final witness is commissioner matthew, confirmed by the senate to be a member of the nrc in december of last year. Vesely having been detailed by the idaho national laboratory to support this committee for then chairman harper. Welcome back. You are recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, chairman capito, ranking member whitehouse, members of the environment and public works committee.
▶ 0:51:01Chair Capito: I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today. It feels a bit like a homecoming to return to this to be where I once had the privilege of serving on staff. Although my former boss may no longer be on the dais, I know I am not the only one who finds themselves repeating history and his sayings, and I suspect the chairman might miss a few of them from time to time. In my month of service as a commissioner with the importance of the nrc mission to enable the safe use of nuclear technology has become even clearer to me.
▶ 0:51:32Chair Capito: Our nation desperately needs clean, reliable, affordable energy to meet not only today's needs but also the projected growth in demand. This imperative is precipitated in a cultural shift in his apartment every member of our staff to innovate the way we conduct business. Nuclear energy is undergoing a period of rapid evolution, and the nrc must evolve in parallel to meet this moment in the challenges of tomorrow.
▶ 0:52:00Chair Capito: Speaking of change, from a personal standpoint my wife and I welcomed the arrival of our second child a few short weeks ago. That experience has only strengthened my sense of responsibility for the future. We are building for the generations that will follow and underscores the vital work of the nrc. While much has changed my priorities as a commissioner that I presented to this can he remain as relevant today as a year ago.
▶ 0:52:28Chair Capito: The path to achieving state department of nuclear power through innovations in the operating fleet, advanced reactor designs requires a practical approach and anticipates technical issues where possible far ahead of the license review process. We as regulators must prepare with clear, efficient, predictable licensing pathways that protect safety without unnecessary delay. The only way to accomplish all that is required of the nrc is through a strong well resourced workforce.
▶ 0:52:59Chair Capito: The nrc staff has always demonstrated an exceptional level of expertise and particularly in recent months has shown an incredible resilience and ability to rise to the occasion. That said, we have seen many highly experienced boys leaving for other jobs, particularly as nuclear energy is rife with opportunity. Cultivating the rich institutional talent within the agency is more important now than ever.
▶ 0:53:23Chair Capito: In order to effectively form our mission as well as train and prepare our staff and leaders for the next 50 years and beyond. Further, the central value of the nrc is and continues to be openness. The emphasis on transparency ensures the agency devotes its fourth focus to ensuring safety and security for the public.
▶ 0:53:47Chair Capito: The nrc exercises deep expertise in public engagement which supports the public's trust in a strong, reliable regulator that is critical to unlocking the benefits of nuclear technology. You have my commitment to uphold the core principles on which this agency was built as we continue to transform. I want to close by thinking my wife jennifer for being so resilient and steadfast throughout these past few months.
▶ 0:54:14Chair Capito: Jennifer your unwavering support strengthens my resolve to serve the american people in this role with integrity and purpose. I thank the members of this committee for your support and look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:54:24Chair Capito: Thank you and congratulations on the birth of your second child. That is an exciting time. One of the ones that chairman carper always said was bipartisan solutions are lasting solutions, so we will just throw that one out there. For both of us to hear, all of us to hear. Chairman wright, thank you. I want to talk about the mission statement of making it actionable.
▶ 0:54:52Chair Capito: You have alluded to the fact that the mission statement was realigned for the first time in many years. To achieve its greatest impact, the commission with the staff has to rewrite the guidance so that further actions can adhere to the vision that is outlined in that statement. The advance act required the commission to describe to congress how it will update agency guidances to reflect the new mission statement. The report was due in july but we have yet to receive that report.
▶ 0:55:22Chair Capito: So what are your observations about how the agency has reflected the spirit of the revised mission statement and its activities to implement the advanced act -- the advance act and where you see is going?
▶ 0:55:34Mr. Wright: Thank you for the question. The mission statement is something we work hard on him especially my calling to the left. We work hard on it over the holidays last year and finally the home commission adopted in january. The mission statement outlines exactly what we do as an agency every day. It hits every factor. Even with the executive orders out there, and supports the executive orders as well.
▶ 0:56:02Mr. Wright: I do know the mission statement guidance was paused while I was gone off the commission. I don't know the whole details behind it.have
▶ 0:56:12Chair Capito: -- chair capito: have you restarted that?
▶ 0:56:18Mr. Wright: I believe commissioner caputo was notified by staff that they wanted to revisit it in light of 14300 and some of the things going on. I have not talked to the staff yet. I just learned about this last week. I will be following up, yes.
▶ 0:56:37Chair Capito: Commissioner crowell and I know chairman wright alluded to the fact that you worked hard on this. You have any additional comments you would like to make regarding that?
▶ 0:56:53Mr. Crowell: I think the mission statement we worked on a bipartisan basis was well-received by the community. -- by the committee. Candidly, I don't know that it makes sense to redo it at this point, but if that is what the administers and desires, we will endeavor to do that. But I do think our current mission statement is the right one for this time in the commission's history.
▶ 0:57:21Chair Capito: Thank you.
▶ 0:57:21Chair Capito: I think it is core to the commission and we would like to see the guidance follow that so we have actionable follow-up. Congress passed the advance act to direct the nrc to be more efficient in its regulation to focus on issues that are most important to safety. Prime example of unnecessary regulations is what is known as non-emergency event reporting, which is seven 300 issues that require licensees to notify the nrc.
▶ 0:57:52Chair Capito: These are issues that are captured either in oversight activities or reports, so after more than eight years of work last summer, the career nrc staff proposed a rule to the commission to eliminate a small subset of those issues, so I would like to ask each of you briefly about you support this straightforward proposal that career nrc staff and inspectors endorsed?
▶ 0:58:17Chair Capito: If so, would you support providing a temporary compliance relief for licensees?
▶ 0:58:24Mr. Wright: Thank you. My position for a long time is that effort to eliminate the requirements is a good example of risk informing regulations and improving, so yes, you have my support.
▶ 0:58:37Chair Capito: Commissioner crowell?
▶ 0:58:41Mr. Crowell: Yes. What we can do to reduce the burden on our inspectors is a valuable part of our efficiency goals.
▶ 0:58:53Mr. Marzano: From my experience working in the area, there is definitely room for improvement. I support the staff's work here and anyways we can ensure the nrc remains situationally aware of what is going on at any given time. That is a valuable aspect of this type of reporting. I do support streamlining making that process efficient.
▶ 0:59:23Chair Capito: Good, thank you. You know what? I am going to go to my ranking member here, senator whitehouse, so I don't take too much time.
▶ 0:59:33Sen. Whitehouse: First of all, thank you all for being here. I customarily offer encouragement to have the regulatory process support the effort to find locations where they are boiling water to make electrons and swap in nuclear if the boiling water is being done by a decommissioned or obsolete plant, and also to lean and where the process allows for the reuse of spent fuel.
▶ 1:00:04Sen. Whitehouse: That may not be reflected in the economic imperatives to individual companies, but I think there is a huge public value to finding a way to make sure spent fuel can be productively and safely reused. I urge you to lean on that. I say those things all the time and am saying them again here.
▶ 1:00:28Sen. Whitehouse: Given all of the intrusions from in my view the department of energy and from the doggy operation and potentially from the white house into what is supposed to be an independent process, I am worried about the transparency issue, which I have seen that I think everybody on the panel mentioned the importance of transparency. Here is my concern.
▶ 1:00:53Sen. Whitehouse: As you all are developing a regulation, if I the process correctly when all of your work is done and your work is sent to the office at omb that supervises from the white house's perspective the regulations, no step in that process before it gets there is public.
▶ 1:01:22Sen. Whitehouse: So if you had a situation in which an industry influence had a heavy hand over at omb or had a policy directive that was very different from the safety imperative that you are supposed to exhibit, implement, you can have a situation which basically they drop what they want through the white house.
▶ 1:01:51Sen. Whitehouse: All of your work gets dismissed, and outcomes back to you with very strong head wind from the white house saying do this or you are out of luck. It seems to be transparency along the way so people can see what went into oria income -- o ira and what came out of that can be useful. Chairman, do you agree with that?
▶ 1:02:20Mr. Wright: So, transparency and openness, keeping the public informed, keeping our stakeholders, hearing from them, learning from them, then being part of the process, that has been key to what we have done historically. It is very important. I know that we are working very closely with oira to stay in the process.
▶ 1:02:50Mr. Wright: So far, they have worked seamlessly with us. We have not seen any of the things you have alluded to, although we are aware. If there is an issue, we feel confident we can have a serious discussion.
▶ 1:03:03Sen. Whitehouse: I think if something like that should happen, I would ask somebody notify this committee that that happened even if it is not a public matter so we can inquire because if it becomes the dropbox for special interest influence and all of your work as a commission gets blown out of the water by oira and it is done secretly because none of the work is public and oira's secret and behind that a lot of mischief can happen, so I ask you to let us know about
▶ 1:03:36Sen. Whitehouse: That. I call them doggy. You can call them doge.
▶ 1:03:38Chair Capito: You need to clarify that. Some folks on our side are confused.
▶ 1:03:43Sen. Whitehouse: Doggy boys.
▶ 1:03:45Chair Capito: I am looking at them and saying it is doge. It is doge.
▶ 1:03:50Sen. Whitehouse: As of today commit seems there are seven doggy staff and nrc. Is that right?
▶ 1:03:57Mr. Wright: Yes.
▶ 1:03:58Sen. Whitehouse: Had any of them worked on nuclear energy prior to in boarding at nrc? In college.
▶ 1:04:10Mr. Wright: I know one who has worked at a plant and also worked on the call side as well. That what I know for sure.
▶ 1:04:18Sen. Whitehouse: But the coal side of nuclear energy.
▶ 1:04:22Mr. Wright: No, he worked at a nuclear plant.
▶ 1:04:25Sen. Whitehouse: And a coal plant. Got it. In your qfr responses, you sent the lead staffer from doge did not have an nrc supervisor. As of today, which of the staffers have an nrc supervisor? All of seven, some of seven, none of seven?
▶ 1:04:49Mr. Wright: When you are talking about, the first one, Mr. blake, he is a senior advisor and a consultant to the nrc, but he also does consulting work at my understanding doe and also epa. He works in coordination with our edo mike king at the nrc. All of the other members, the other six do report to nrc.
▶ 1:05:18Sen. Whitehouse: Ok, my time is up. Thank you very much. >> thank you, madam chairman. Once again, thank you for coming to wyoming. You are invited back off and come and we are delighted you got a chance to see what we are doing there. I want to thank the commissioners for being here today.
▶ 1:05:41Sen. Whitehouse: One of you in your testimony mentioned what I think is the crux of the matter for the commission, and that is just two words, safe use. I think some of us on this committee get the impression that when one party is controlled, it is all about nonuse, and when another party is in control, it is about
▶ 1:06:13Sen. Whitehouse: Unsafe use. I want to just reaffirm for you it is both. It is both for all of us. We know that we need incredible amounts of energy in order to win the artificial intelligence race. And it is absolutely critical of the united states be the leader in ai.
▶ 1:06:38Sen. Whitehouse: But to do that, we need all sources of energy, and nuclear is included. The frustration that I experienced during the last four years is very similar in terms of the frustration level that our ranking member just expressed. But it was from the opposite point of view.
▶ 1:07:04Sen. Whitehouse: I had worked for four years with senator mark kelly of arizona to help the navajo nation clean up their many sites that are contaminated.
▶ 1:07:22Sen. Whitehouse: With the technology that is basically what I call a carwash , they are able to clean up tailings and all nuclear sites to a level that exceeds 90%.
▶ 1:07:40Sen. Whitehouse: But for some reason, somebody at the nrc's lower level staff decided that that was not good enough and used their bureaucratic position to thwart that cleanup. To me, that was just nonsensical. The navajo nation did not get it. I don't get it.
▶ 1:08:08Sen. Whitehouse: And so we experienced the frustration of not being able to identify a faceless bureaucrat that was stopping the cleanup of these sites on the navajo nation and could do it for other sites that are on federal land and private land as well. I share that kind of frustration.
▶ 1:08:33Sen. Whitehouse: Senator whitehouse, we felt exactly the same way when the keystone xl pipeline was shut down. No notice to anybody. All of those jobs last in 24 hours. Boom. So I get it. When you are not in control, there is a certain amount of frustration that goes with the change of administration.
▶ 1:09:01Sen. Whitehouse: But there is something that will always be true with this group, with this commission, and it gets down to the issue of safe use. And we are seeing new technologies in nuclear that are being developed in advance that we need. And we want it expedited, but we don't want it expedited by sacrificing safety.
▶ 1:09:26Sen. Whitehouse: So if I can just say to all three of you, godspeed, move forward, get nuclear back in a position where it is a big component of the american energy mix but never do it by sacrificing safety, so those are my soapbox remarks. Now I will ask about what the western states are doing.
▶ 1:09:57Sen. Whitehouse: So, wyoming, idaho, and utah have recently entered into an agreement to jointly pursue nuclear this regrowth in the region. I will ask this of the chairman. How are you working with state-level energy officials to support nuclear development and doing it in a safe manner?
▶ 1:10:17Mr. Wright: Thank you, senator, and I appreciate your comments earlier. So we work with any stakeholder out there. We work with the states, whether it be the state program or companies that want to have a conversation with us about what they are trying to accomplish. We will engage with them. That is just a good thing to do, just a good business practice. Whatever the business is going to do, they will be decided in the boardroom.
▶ 1:10:51Mr. Wright: That is a decision they make but we will work and collaborate, which we already do when we travel. We collaborate with the local state officials to get the answers they need and to provide service if we. Need to.
▶ 1:11:11Sen. Lummis: My time is up because I was on my soapbox but I because I was on my soapbox but if there is a second round to my last my questions.
▶ 1:11:24Sen. Padilla: If I can jump on my subparts as well, I agree with a lot of what you said, starting with the need for the united states to maintain its leadership in ai and to do so we will need an accompanying energy supply. I have heard a lot from this administration and the senate about all of the above them all of the above, all of the above.
▶ 1:11:52Sen. Padilla: If that is the case, nuclear has to be part of the mix. I also suggest hydrogen, not just in states like wyoming and california, but the added opportunity of coastal states for offshore wind to be supported and invested in, not funds withdrawn as we are seeing by this administration.
▶ 1:12:17Sen. Padilla: If we are in agreement on that, let's continue to work together to make those appeals for continuing the smart investment we have had. Now to the subject at hand today. A benefit for those watching at home.
▶ 1:12:35Sen. Padilla: The year was 1974 when congress acted to dissolve the atomic energy commission as it existed and separated its responsibilities between two bodies, the nuclear regulatory commission and what is now the department of energy, recognizing that one entity cannot and should not be charged with both the nuclear safety regulation of policymaking and decision-making as well as
▶ 1:13:06Sen. Padilla: Promoting nuclear. Because it creates a real or perceived conflict of interest, and it is important to maintain public trust in these endeavors. But today, we see doge staffers detail to the nrc but referring to themselves as representative's, injecting themselves in the regulatory view and stating for the nrc to
▶ 1:13:38Sen. Padilla: Be a rubberstamp for doe. We also see the nrc being directed to create expedited pathways to approve doe tested reactor designs without revisiting doe's analysis.
▶ 1:13:56Sen. Padilla: This is a dangerous trend that I fear can have significant implications for the safety, back to your safe use, of our nuclear, energy and more portly c1 when it comes to anything related to nuclear and the public trust, once you break that trust it is really hard to regain it.
▶ 1:14:27Sen. Padilla: How is this not a return to the once upon a time atomic energy commission that combines the regulation?
▶ 1:14:37Mr. Wright: Thank you. Working with doe and dod or any other agency, we have done this historically. We are the safety regulator. Doe could pick winners and losers, they are promoter of all things energy.
▶ 1:15:09Mr. Wright: There is nothing really different now. They have been over there helping implement but they are not directing that. We are working collaboratively with doe on this. We are actually going to be putting people at doe to help do the reviews.
▶ 1:15:42Sen. Padilla: From where we are now and going forward, would it be beneficial to have a formal roles of responsibilities of each party in place?
▶ 1:15:54Mr. Wright: We have had it for years. We are looking at implementing with dod.
▶ 1:16:03Sen. Padilla: That's what I'm referring to.
▶ 1:16:04Mr. Wright: We are working on that now.
▶ 1:16:08Sen. Padilla: What is the timetable?
▶ 1:16:09Mr. Wright: I will have to get back to you on that. It is soon, they are talking about it now.
▶ 1:16:21Sen. Padilla: I know my time is running out. I will follow up with questions on other topics.
▶ 1:16:30Mr. Wright: I wanted to let you know that rubberstamp common that made the papers while I was out, I was in that meeting, what wasn't reported was how we pushed back. We will not put our name on anything we haven't reviewed and accepted. Their two gentlemen who were there agreed wholeheartedly.
▶ 1:17:03Sen. Padilla: Would love to get it documented. Want to see the administration's respect for that check and balance, thank you.
▶ 1:17:14Sen. Curtis: Congratulations on that second, as a father of six I would simply say it is a good start. >> I would say thank you for recognizing your wife.
▶ 1:17:33Sen. Curtis: Thank you for your service there and here. My colleague has talked about the agreement with utah. It is clear they want to be a leader on this. Our legislature stands ready to jump hurdles. We have been working on preparation for years.
▶ 1:18:06Sen. Curtis: I want to go with the question of working with state government and really explore to the fullest extent what we could do working with state governments to help expedite the process. What could you become partners with us on and how could we use our state government for states like wyoming, utah, and others.
▶ 1:18:34Mr. Wright: That is what we do, we don't promote technology. The state is looking at particular technology to build. If they need information, we've got the information. We have dashboard were anybody looking to get something done, it is they are the website. You could call us directly.
▶ 1:19:03Sen. Curtis: I know my legislature has been there to visit you.
▶ 1:19:05Mr. Wright: I have been to your stay in wyoming and talked with government officials. You also have trade organizations you could lean on, the national conference of state legislatures as well.
▶ 1:19:22Sen. Curtis: We don't have time to fully explore this. We would love to keep massaging this and figure out what we could do to be as ready as we can.
▶ 1:19:34Sen. Curtis: The advanced act has been talked about a lot today. I would say one of the motivating factors is uncertainty and clarity into this. Those of you that have been around know about the attempt to get a nuclear reactor and the difficulty with that. What are you doing as an organization to provide the certainty these organizations need? How could we better clarify exactly how to do this?
▶ 1:20:05Mr. Wright: Are you talking about the prize act?
▶ 1:20:11Sen. Curtis: I'm talking about the overall certainty for those who want to go through this process. If you are fortunate enough and have vast resources to move through this, you could move quicker. In their case it took about 10 years to move half way the process.
▶ 1:20:32Mr. Wright: We have learned as we have gone along. We have made -- we have instituted tiger teams and things like that as well to keep things on track and focused. Early engagement from anybody is going to be helpful. The whole goal is to build as robust of a package as you can.
▶ 1:20:58Mr. Wright: We are committed for the construction review and safety review as well. We are not going to be the problem. It will be fuel, money, resources, supply chain. It will not be the nrc.
▶ 1:21:18Sen. Curtis: We will save that for another day. Clearly your comments indicate that you are hoping to lead this organization through a transition of change and clarity. Could you give us the top line on what we could expect and how you are doing that?
▶ 1:21:34Mr. Wright: That is a loaded question. I could talk for an hour about it. We are not through yet. I am a cancer survivor. I knew I had to do stuff fast. I could get through the process and out on the other side.
▶ 1:21:59Mr. Wright: We are going through that process right now of losing people and we will lose more. People are retirement age. Companies right here in dcm maryland -- D.C. and maryland. We will be able to see, that is focused on workload.
▶ 1:22:26Mr. Wright: We will be able to put people into those spots and see do we have gaps? We could do the licenses, reviews, we could even use the reprocessing facility. We have to get through that part before we could get to what you are looking at is do we need more people. You have given us the tools to fill those holes.
▶ 1:22:54Sen. Capito: Senator kelly?
▶ 1:22:59Sen. Kelly: First question, I will try to get through both of them. I will ask each of you to provide an answer. The administration has set ambitious goals, you guys know this, quadruple the capacity by 2015, roughly 300 utility scale reactors over the next 25 years.
▶ 1:23:31Sen. Kelly: These are the goals we need to meet our missions, energy demands reliably while reducing emissions. It passes prologue here. The country is not on track to meet these goals. Only six designs are certified. Only one of which has been built . The nrc has only issued 14 operating licenses resulting in just two new reactors.
▶ 1:24:00Sen. Kelly: As demand has skyrocketed, so has the demand for nuclear power plant's. The industry is aggressively pursuing advanced reactor designs that have never been deployed. These designs promised to be safer, flexible, easier to deploy. They will take precious intercity time and resources.
▶ 1:24:22Sen. Kelly: My question is where should the nrc focus its attention to get more nuclear on the grid at scale in the time to meet our energy needs. I see two options. They could fast-track proven utility designs to get shovels in the ground or the other option, they could certified tomorrow's advanced modular reactor.
▶ 1:24:52Sen. Kelly: Would you agree the nrc could move faster and bring more nuclear energy to the grid if the commission could prioritize one of these pathways as opposed to trying to do both at the same time. Which path do you think they should follow to make this happen? Fast-track proven utility scale, designs to get shovels in the ground now or certifying the new advanced modular reactors?
▶ 1:25:21Mr. Wright: Thank you. If you are going to hit 400 gigawatts you will have to build big plants. You will not be able to hit everything that you need. Different purposes, chemical plants, for grid scale stuff, you will have to have big plans.
▶ 1:25:53Sen. Kelly: That would clearly be the first option to try to get the utility scale, the existing designs, shovels in the ground.
▶ 1:26:02Mr. Wright: There is some low hanging fruit that is out there. You have got license renewals and such from the plants that are aging out could get license for another 20 years or more. You have the opportunity to bring decommissioned plants online. That is cheaper than building a new plant. Looking at the possibility of building blake -- big plants.
▶ 1:26:36Mr. Wright: There has been an announcement that they are looking to build another 10. Finally is the advanced reactors.
▶ 1:26:47Sen. Kelly: Do you agree with that?
▶ 1:26:55Mr. Crowell: It is all going to depend on the quality of reaction that comes in. We could make significant progress keeping and putting more power on the grid. Completing these efforts to restart recently shut down reactors,.
▶ 1:27:24Mr. Crowell: Also making progress on advanced fuels that will allow more power, longer run times.
▶ 1:27:31Sen. Kelly: It's about abandon uranium mines. We've got 500 of them on the navajo nation. There have been challenges. One of these challenges has to do with how we deploy new emerging technologies.
▶ 1:27:54Sen. Kelly: The epa, navajo nation have piloted the technology that could reduce the amount of hazardous waste by as much as 85%. This technology has not been able to be used more widely because it is still going through a licensing process. I know you have made some progress on this in recent years to alternative licensing pathways.
▶ 1:28:22Sen. Kelly: Do you agree that a site-specific licensing process for remediation will unnecessarily delay the deployment of innovative technologies across the western united states?
▶ 1:28:37Mr. Marzano: The number of features out there, if we are going to address this problem we need to move quickly. It is repeatable at these different sites.
▶ 1:28:56Sen. Kelly: Could I get each of you to commit to me to prioritize in the review of any licensing so we can start cleaning up more of these abandoned mines?
▶ 1:29:12Sen. Cruz: -- Sen. husted: the question of safety and speed is at the center of the conversation today. I come from someone who represents a manufacturing state.
▶ 1:29:32Sen. Cruz: If you look at our energy demands as we as a nation are more made in america, more electricity. We have more battery demand, electricity, certainly ai. We are the fifth-largest ai state in the country. We are continuing to see demand grow for electricity.
▶ 1:30:01Sen. Cruz: We are not a state where solar or wind could come close to meeting that increased demand. Particularly with reliability issues with power 24/7 365 to run these facilities. Nuclear is the only zero carbon solution that is out there, which I think is a uniting element of a lot of the conversation.
▶ 1:30:27Sen. Cruz: There were questions raised earlier today about safety, that there are an inadequate number of professionals at the commission to meet current safety demands. I will give you an opportunity to clear that up. Do we have the adequate professional staff necessary to provide for the safety and the nuclear industry in this country?
▶ 1:30:58Mr. Wright: Safety is our northstar, we are not taking our eyes off of that. That is what they focus on. We are not going to approve anything that is not safe. That's why early engagement is so critical so we can understand if it is a new technology, what are the gaps that we have and where is that information going to be filled from?
▶ 1:31:29Mr. Wright: We have the expertise to do what needs to be done. Safety will not be compromised in any way. I could assure you of that.
▶ 1:31:37Sen. Husted: As you look to the future, I know you will continue to try to modernize, you have issues with people retiring. People with demand. All of those things that you discussed and you will modernize and improve. I will ask this question.
▶ 1:32:05Sen. Husted: How much nuclear energy we expect to come online in the next 10 years?
▶ 1:32:10Mr. Wright: I don't know the actual answer to that. All I know is whatever will be coming to us is going to be done in an efficient manner.
▶ 1:32:27Sen. Husted: How long should that take and how long does it take for -- to follow up on senator kelly's question to go from it appears on your desk to approval of construction and electrons going out?
▶ 1:32:47Mr. Wright: We are looking at ways to expedite things like we did. It's going to be up to the applicant and working with us to build a robust application. Again, in that 18 months trying to get the whole nuclear side of it done as well.
▶ 1:33:18Mr. Wright: We are committed to making things more efficient. It used to be they got done quicker on the environmental side. That is a game changer for the nrc and the industry as well. It will help us get things done quicker. We have the designs for the ap 1000.
▶ 1:33:50Mr. Wright: The only advanced reactor that has been approved. We have five others who have applications before us. You have another 25 or 30 who haven't come to us with any application. We know they are probably coming.
▶ 1:34:10Sen. Husted: I would just add it is pretty widely known when you look at the math the demand for electricity through ai alone is increasing at a far faster rate than we are bringing energy online. We also care about inflation and lowering cost or consumers.
▶ 1:34:35Sen. Husted: If we get this right, it will come with great consequences economically.
▶ 1:34:42Mr. Wright: That is the thing that is important about a whole to government approach. It is a national energy emergency. That is what we are trying to do working with dod. If it is needed in other areas, we will be a partner and get that done.
▶ 1:35:10Sen. Capito: Senator blunt rochester.
▶ 1:35:16Sen. Rochester: As a person who sits in the seat for chairman tom carpenter and a former staffer, I will congratulate you commissioner marzano on the birth of your child. I will say that to me this panel is so important.
▶ 1:35:46Sen. Rochester: It ensures independence, reliability, continuity. An incredibly important part of the energy sector. The nrc stability from change and administration so it doesn't change with the winds. I am starting with you.
▶ 1:36:10Sen. Rochester: Could you talk about why this five-member structure is so critical for nuclear safety and regulatory uncertainty.
▶ 1:36:23Mr. Wright: We all bring different backgrounds. We have diverse thoughts that actually work to help us educate each other and help us come to a better solution. We found a way to make it work.
▶ 1:36:54Mr. Crowell: Five as intended is the real number.
▶ 1:37:01Mr. Marzano: Ultimately the structure leads to a more reasoned, balanced, robust decisions. I will echo the sentiments of my colleagues that we all benefit from this process and decision-making. Congress set up not just the nuclear regulatory way back when as highly valuable for that.
▶ 1:37:33Mr. Marzano: Given the complexity of the nuclear industry and technology.
▶ 1:37:41Sen. Rochester: I'm referring to the structure and those different perspectives brought to bear. Also taking the politics out and focusing on the expertise and what is necessary. I express this because I am concerned about the administration's recent track record with interfering with independent federal agencies.
▶ 1:38:11Sen. Rochester: The ranking member's comments and even your recent testimony about retirements, the firing of a commissioner and a number of vacancies. We are seeing even the nrc is not immune. This is really about our health, safety, competitiveness.
▶ 1:38:29Sen. Rochester: I will follow up with you later because I can't imagine the technical expertise shown on that board does not have some impact whether it is timeliness or -- that has to have an impact. We need to make sure you have the resources you need. I will follow-up with you on those needs. Nuclear energy continues to be a big part of the conversation about the future.
▶ 1:39:01Sen. Rochester: We need this option on the table. We don't want it to be at the expense of safety in our communities. That being said there is a clear delay in licensing. While ensuring safety is critical to nrc licensing. Where are you seeing bottlenecks in the licensing process?
▶ 1:39:29Mr. Wright: I look forward to following up with you as well. That early engagement is so critical. We want to be prepared for whoever comes in. We have to be ready. We want to try to help them on the front end as they are constructing their license program.
▶ 1:39:57Mr. Wright: We want to be as strong and robust as possible and answer as many questions as we can. A lot of this is up to the applicant as well.
▶ 1:40:10Sen. Rochester: That he application is key is what you are saying. The directive to undertake the revision of its regulations and guidance documents, will nrc hold public meetings before these revisions are finalized?
▶ 1:40:29Mr. Wright: Yes.
▶ 1:40:31Sen. Blunt-Rochester: Ultimately this is about safety, our health, it's also about the competitiveness of us as a nation. Our focus on clean, reliable energy is important. I yield back.
▶ 1:40:49Sen. Capito: The chair recognizes senator ricketts.
▶ 1:40:54Sen. Ricketts: . Thank you to the commissioners for coming to this oversight hearing. Nebraska is very proud of our nuclear power. Our nuclear station is 835 megawatt facility that could generate power for about 385,000 residents. Nebraska is working to expand its nuclear capabilities.
▶ 1:41:24Sen. Ricketts: As the industry continues to grow, clarity in rulemaking is vital to success. Uranium mining is critical to the U.S. bolstering our domestic supply. One of the challenges is the lack of clarity with respect to the groundwater restoration center.
▶ 1:41:51Sen. Ricketts: President trump recently issued an executive order. How will the nrc work to address this as part of its new reforms?
▶ 1:42:06Mr. Wright: I love your state. The nrc is working now on standards as part of this comprehensive rulemaking right now. That's going to happen.
▶ 1:42:27Sen. Ricketts: Do you have a timeline for when we might see some of these rules?
▶ 1:42:32Mr. Wright: We are looking to get something up in february is when we are supposed to be looking at that.
▶ 1:42:45Sen. Ricketts: I have been here long enough to understand these are ballpark numbers. The nebraska public power plant district is currently in phase two for building a new small modular reactor. I would like to learn more about how the nrc is implementing the act and utilizing process.
▶ 1:43:15Sen. Ricketts: The executive director issued a memo for section 505. It identifies a series of actions of timeliness of reviews. Which of those do you think is the most promising to prove the licensing efficiencies for new and developing technologies? What are some of the actions of the staff that they are considering the section 505 advanced act?
▶ 1:43:45Mr. Wright: I don't think there's anyone that is better than the others. I think the whole of those actions being taken together is what it will take to make the biggest impact. The staff is -- we are anticipating the agency will realize the rulemaking efforts for 14-300 are completed.
▶ 1:44:17Sen. Ricketts: One of the things I implemented in the state of nebraska was a process improvement methodology. We were able to be able to save hundreds of thousands of hours as we rolled that out to everybody in the organization.
▶ 1:44:40Sen. Ricketts: I would highly encourage you to take that one of the things we were able to do, it was taking us about 190 days. By simplifying the process we took it down steps and able to get permits issued in 65 days.
▶ 1:45:09Sen. Ricketts: They could help streamline the processes taking down the steps that don't have any value. As part of the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.
▶ 1:45:20Mr. Wright: We were already becoming more efficient. I will tell you we are leaning in on that front. We are leaning in on the advanced reactor side.
▶ 1:45:43Mr. Wright: That is the shining star in the agency because of how many people are coming and how we prepared to get ready. They are committed to it. Thank you and I will take you up on it.
▶ 1:46:06Sen. Capito: The state is blessed to have the experience of former governors. Thank you so much. The chair recognizes senator sh.
▶ 1:46:29Sen. Schiff: Could you tell us exactly what the comment was and who made the comment?
▶ 1:46:39Mr. Wright: That meeting happened in early june if I remember correctly. I was contacted by mike at doe to talk about the executive order. They came on a friday morning there were three people, adam blake mentioned earlier.
▶ 1:47:09Mr. Wright: He had two other people with him. I don't remember her last name. It was actually seth cohen who use the rubberstamped comment when they walked in I let Mr. blake introduce the others.
▶ 1:47:37Mr. Wright: When I started the meeting back I was told the executive order, that's when the comment was made. It's going to rubberstamped what they did.
▶ 1:47:56Sen. Schiff: Are you referring to the decision made by dod?
▶ 1:48:01Mr. Wright: Maybe, I didn't press him on that.
▶ 1:48:10Sen. Schiff: Was he rubberstamping what the nuclear industry wanted his expectation was the nrc was going to be rubberstamped for the industry.
▶ 1:48:21Mr. Wright: I don't remember what that part of the executive order was. Whether he chose the right words or not I don't know. We wanted to rubberstamped the meeting we were having.
▶ 1:48:39Sen. Schiff: I'm grateful you pushed back. I'm trying to get the understanding of how he views your role, obviously alarming to everyone who is concerned about safety. Let me ask a related question to each of you. Should you decide the nuclear design is unsafe or anyone else?
▶ 1:49:08Sen. Schiff: Did you think you are at risk of being fired from a commission by a person who has demonstrated willingness to fire commissioners without cause?
▶ 1:49:17Mr. Marzano: We have seen it happen. The nrc will not license a reactor that does not meet our standards.
▶ 1:49:32Sen. Schiff: You acknowledge it is very possible if you feel it is unsafe that if you vote that way you might be fired by the administration?
▶ 1:49:44Mr. Marzano: I think that is a possibility.
▶ 1:49:47Sen. Schiff: Do you think that is a possibility?
▶ 1:49:50Mr. Crowell: I could be fired by the administration for reasons unknown.
▶ 1:49:55Sen. Schiff: Do you think you would be fired if you decided against the administration's desires that it is unsafe?
▶ 1:50:03Mr. Wright: It doesn't matter, I will make the right decision.
▶ 1:50:08Sen. Schiff: You acknowledge you have to at least be concerned about the possibility of being fired?
▶ 1:50:20Mr. Wright: I'm going to make the right decision.
▶ 1:50:28Sen. Schiff: If you have to be concerned of making a decision in the interest of public safety to improve something on a shortened timetable that you be fired, it is not conducive of a situation to nuclear safety. Should you have to worry about being fired for making the right decision?
▶ 1:50:48Mr. Wright: I may look at it a little bit differently than how you are seeing it.
▶ 1:50:57Sen. Schiff: What if you don't have the information in 12-18 months?
▶ 1:51:07Mr. Wright: You have 12 months, 18 months on the construction side and then another 12-18 on the other part. If you don't have the information to make a safety decision.
▶ 1:51:27Sen. Schiff: You could ignore the timetable if you believe you don't have sufficient information?
▶ 1:51:32Mr. Wright: Absolutely.
▶ 1:51:34Sen. Capito: The chair recognizes senator alsobrooks.
▶ 1:51:43Sen. Alsobrooks: The nuclear regulatory commission plays a vital role in my state overseeing the calvert cliffs nuclear power plant which generates nearly 40% of our electricity. The nrc ensures these plants operate safely and reliably protecting the public and the environment.
▶ 1:52:08Sen. Alsobrooks: We have heard some this morning facing significant workforce challenges. 77% of the staff are over 40 years old. Approximately 22% of the workforce is eligible to retire by the end of fiscal year 2025. We believe this critical knowledge and expertise, we could probably all agree with that.
▶ 1:52:32Sen. Alsobrooks: It has decreased by nearly 30% since 2010 raising concerns about the capacity to meet evolving regulatory demands. Given all of these realities, I have heard you allude a little bit to it, how do you plan to replace the entire -- retirement eligible workers with the skill sets aligned with the needs of a nuclear landscape?
▶ 1:53:04Mr. Wright: I was hoping senator graham might be here. I don't know if we told him about your seneca, south carolina connection. We share some connections. As it relates to the workforce that we have, about 20% of our people are currently eligible for retirement.
▶ 1:53:32Mr. Wright: The market that is out there right now, it is good for people in our line of work. We have people on the bench. There's going to be fresh opportunities for people to step up and chart their path and make their name at the nrc. We have plenty of talent.
▶ 1:54:04Mr. Wright: We are recruiting people. We have hired 504i think. We do have a hiring freeze, we have some exemptions. If we have something with apus -- specific talent, we could get it. We have been told there are exemptions that we could ask for that would be provided.
▶ 1:54:40Sen. Alsobrooks: I was going to ask you about the hiring freeze. Let me ask you another question on may 23 the president issued an executive order. The order directed the nrc to take a wholesale revision.
▶ 1:55:07Sen. Alsobrooks: There is a concern about regulatory changes with that depth and thoughtfulness that come from collaborative engagement with public stakeholders. This tends to create regulatory uncertainty for applicants already navigating the licensing process. I'm wondering if you could admit to taking the necessary time to meaningfully engage stakeholders to ensure they maintain safety and regulatory predictability.
▶ 1:55:42Sen. Alsobrooks: I have a question I want to ask of each commissioner. This is regarding the principles good regulation 1991 to guide the agency's performance and ensure public trust. The principles are clarity, reliability but quite frankly I think most people are concerned now about independence.
▶ 1:56:06Sen. Alsobrooks: I wonder if each of you could commit that your decisions will continue to be driven by protecting public health, safety, and these principles with nothing else.
▶ 1:56:18Mr. Wright: Yes.
▶ 1:56:20Mr. Crowell: Absolutely.
▶ 1:56:21Mr. Marzano: Yes.
▶ 1:56:26Sen. Alsobrooks: They list 30 vendors engaged in application. Many are backed by strong federal support. There is one notable example. It is in my state, a company based in my state and these applicants that submitted high-quality quality applications that the nrc is committed to reviewing on an accelerated timeline.
▶ 1:56:55Sen. Alsobrooks: Given the significant expansion, it is essential to completing these reviews, how would you ensure that these applicants that you will complete the reviews on schedule without cutting safety corners?
▶ 1:57:10Mr. Wright: Some of those people leaving the nrc are going to x energy. They have 500 jobs posted. It is a serious thing. The attraction is real, you cannot blame them. We have got the people. It is the shining star.
▶ 1:57:41Mr. Wright: The people that are in early engagement with us trying to help them build as robust an application as they can depending on the technology that they are ready to go.
▶ 1:58:05Mr. Wright: >> president trump issued an executive order order in february for this year that attacked so-called independent regulatory agencies. Under this order the nrc has to submit every regulatory decision to the office of information and regulatory affairs for its review.
▶ 1:58:35Mr. Wright: How many decisions have been sent to the white house for review since this order was issued?
▶ 1:58:45Mr. Wright: About 18 maybe. >> how many would have been?
▶ 1:58:51Mr. Wright: As I understand, maybe the main item we have transmitted has been our annual fee rule.
▶ 1:59:09Sen. Markey: As part of the new partisan review process, could the white house change the nuclear regulatory for rules and decisions?
▶ 1:59:30Mr. Wright: I may have to get back to you on that with the detail. We have the ability to have conversations with them on things that maybe they don't agree with or something like that.
▶ 1:59:45Sen. Markey: You have the authority to overrule the commissioner on any of the rules or decisions transmitted by the commissioner?
▶ 1:59:54Mr. Wright: They have been very accommodating.
▶ 1:59:59Sen. Markey: They have not overruled you?
▶ 2:00:00Mr. Wright: Subject to change.
▶ 2:00:04Sen. Markey: Is anyone aware of any changes that have been made? None have been made. Good. There is again from my perspective no chance that a qualified nuclear professional in the white house is reviewing these rules at the white house to make them stronger. That is not what is happening.
▶ 2:00:34Sen. Markey: That is what this white house is all about. To rubberstamp the nuclear private sector industry moving forward. That would be the only reason that they would have.
▶ 2:00:51Sen. Markey: There is nothing effective about putting nuclear safety in the hands of the partisan political white house instead of independent nuclear experts that the white house doesn't have a nuclear regulatory commission's safety. The nrc's mission to protect public health and safety. It has an agenda.
▶ 2:01:17Sen. Markey: That is to rubberstamp new nuclear power plants to make up for the upwards of 500,000 megawatts of wind and solar gas. They have to find out what -- find a way to do that unless they completely trash the safety rules.
▶ 2:01:41Sen. Markey: That is why I am very afraid of what the pressure will be on you because ai is growing. They are looking at you to expedite the safety procedures. If you don't the white house will overrule you. That is what is unfolding right in front of us. Imagine you went to the doctor who looked at your symptoms. That would be you.
▶ 2:02:14Sen. Markey: You had to wait for the mayor to view the prescription and decide you are fine with a band-aid. That is what the trump administration is doing. The trump administration is putting its political agenda between you and your safety. Putting a curtain up between the public and its right to know what is going on.
▶ 2:02:38Sen. Markey: The transparency is replaced by the trump white house in terms of who was talking and what is being asked about the regulation. You are telling me you don't know that I can override you. You don't know if the safety that this commission is put in place in order to advance to compromise.
▶ 2:03:08Sen. Markey: That is the problem with this white house. Doing it at the same time, they are saying they will put a nuclear reactor up on the moon. They are going to put a nuclear reactor between us and our moon. At the same time we know the sun is setting on the nuclear industry. The moon is getting ready to rise.
▶ 2:03:37Sen. Markey: It could be very dangerous without the nrc having a real rule. All across the board there is a nuclear agenda that is very dangerous. It will leave the public in the dark, uninformed and unaware of the decisions that directly affect their health and safety.
▶ 2:04:02Sen. Markey: These decisions are going to be made in darkness in the white house about the nuclear safety of these power plants across our country. The white house provides darkness. Out of that we will have something that is not transparent. It will make it even harder to license nuclear power plant if they believe there is no transparency.
▶ 2:04:27Sen. Markey: If they believe it is just the industry showing up and trying their best to compromise the safety regulations. Your job is to regulate the industry. The job of the white house is to promote it, not to regulate it. That is why we created the nuclear regulatory commission. The white house is putting that conflict back into action.
▶ 2:04:51Sen. Markey: Give me an assurance that the nrc will not stand on the sidelines if safety is being affected.
▶ 2:04:58Mr. Wright: I could assure you safety will not be compromised.
▶ 2:05:06Sen. Markey: Even of the white house issues an order that it
▶ 2:05:10Mr. Wright: Must be compromised. The safety will not be compromised.
▶ 2:05:16Sen. Markey: Do you agree with that?
▶ 2:05:19Mr. Crowell: Safety is a recognition of the public trust. The white house prioritizes safety as well.
▶ 2:05:35Sen. Markey: They just lied. They are saying wind is unsafe. They could sell the same lie about nuclear power. Don't worry about the regulatory commission regulations. They just lied through their teeth to kill wind and solar. Over here they are inherently dangerous. We have an entire agency.
▶ 2:06:06Sen. Markey: We don't have a solar agency. We don't have a wind regulatory. There could be no nuclear, there is no solar regulative follow-up. You don't have to say to pennsylvania we are thinking about evacuating if a wind or solar plant goes down, with nuclear you have to.
▶ 2:06:30Mr. Crowell: I do think we all genuinely support about safety. If we lose anymore staff, it's going to be tough to credibly make safety cases.
▶ 2:06:51Mr. Crowell: I'm also concerned with respect to the agency's historic independence that rulemaking front that commissioner votes will no longer be made public. The public won't have the benefit of thinking of the three of us in terms of a rulemaking proposal. There are transparency concerns. I think they could be solved if we acknowledge them.
▶ 2:07:25Sen. Markey: Nuclear safety is about to fall into a black hole.
▶ 2:07:27Sen. Capito: The gentlemen's time has expired. Unless someone else returns to testify I will ask one last question of each of you. I would like you to do two things.
▶ 2:07:51Sen. Capito: One is to share your perspectives about how it is going with regard to updating your environmental review requirements. And my other question for each of you is is there anything that you were not asked today. We will start with chairman wright.
▶ 2:08:23Mr. Wright: Thank you. We are actively working right now on part 51. We do expect these revisions will meet the intent with environmental review.
▶ 2:08:53Mr. Wright: Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. I don't have the dates certain on some of this. We are working that very hard. As far as what no one asked, I would be at a loss.
▶ 2:09:14Mr. Wright: One thing I think you all have talked about before is the potential for an advance act 2.0. Some of those things, obviously the mandatory hearing has been talked about. Senator scott has a bill before the senate that does that.
▶ 2:09:40Mr. Wright: There are some other areas that were in 1.0 that may be could be expanded to cover the reactor side. Obviously, those are a couple of things right now. That's the only question that we have talked about a little bit.
▶ 2:10:04Mr. Crowell: Appreciate you mention it because we haven't gotten into that so far it is the area where reese down -- where we stand to make the most efficiency in terms of how we do the whole process if necessary leveraging exclusions and things like that.
▶ 2:10:33Mr. Crowell: It is not what the agency has historically done. In terms of what I wasn't asked about today, there is a lot of topics. If in addition to the hiring freeze, our inability to have graduate intern programs and fellowships and internship programs is a real problem.
▶ 2:11:06Mr. Crowell: It will be helpful to have any constraints for our ability. The only way we get him, I don't think we could compete with private industry to take them out of the job market.
▶ 2:11:23Mr. Marzano: I agree with my colleagues. I can't offer too many details on the process itself. I think we have made a lot of meaningful changes. The chairman was absent during the time. We reached an agreement to get the rulemaking reflecting fiscal responsibilities. I will offer one of the key things that.
▶ 2:12:03Mr. Marzano: That is something that could produce a lot of deficiency. It has already been evidenced by particularly cairo with their reaction. As far as what we haven't gotten a chance to talk about, it's a little bit about how we get to a decision where shovels are going into the ground.
▶ 2:12:28Mr. Marzano: One of the things I learned is what could be learned from our partners in the regulatory committee. Canada recently improved the construction permit for the design for ontario power generation. They used a little bit of a different decision.
▶ 2:12:50Mr. Marzano: The question asked about the event section, that is where a lot of this type of efficiency created solutions that we could get to a faster decision.
▶ 2:13:04Sen. Capito: Please feel invited to approach the members of this committee on things that we could help you improve your processes. We do want use of nuclear. As we have all said we want safe use. I sincerely thank the members of the commission for being here today and making yourselves available to the senate.
▶ 2:13:35Sen. Capito: With no further questions, we all thank you kindly. Every member of the committee. Senators who wish may submit written questions for the record. The senators will have until 5:00 p.m. On wednesday september 17 to do so.
▶ 2:14:00Sen. Capito: The witness's to those questions are due back to the committee 5:00 p.m. On wednesday, october 1. They will be submitted for the record. With our sincere thanks to the commission, this hearing is adjourned.