March 17, 2014

HOUSE RESCHEDULES NRC HEARING, SENATE TO MOVE QUICKLY ON NRC NOMINATIONS

By ExchangeMonitor

Given that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee plans to hold the nomination hearings for Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominees Allison Macfarlane and Kristine Svinicki as early as next week, the House subcommittees on Environment and the Economy and on Energy and Power have postponed their planned NRC oversight hearing. Originally set for May 31, the joint hearing—titled “NRC Policy and Governance Oversight” and planned in light of NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s abrupt resignation last week—will be rescheduled at a time yet to be determined. “Given the swift movement on nominations and the apparent wind down of Chairman Jaczko’s current tenure at NRC, we’ve decided to pause until there is more clarity on the chairmanship of the NRC,” the House subcommittees said in a statement yesterday. “We welcome the recent signals coming from the White House and Senate that the re-nomination of Kristine Svinicki and the closeout of the Jaczko era will be fast tracked. The committee looks forward to rescheduling the hearing when the commission is whole with a new chairman and four commissioners seated, which will allow for a thoughtful discussion on the future of the NRC and examining lessons learned.”

Jaczko resigned early May 21, and President Barack Obama wasted little time nominating Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future member Allison Macfarlane to that post May 24. Jaczko’s resignation follows months of turmoil at the agency made public by an Oct. 13 letter to the White House in which Jaczko’s four fellow commissioners said they had ‘grave concerns’ over his management. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Environment and the Economy Chairman Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) have led an ongoing investigation into allegations by the four other NRC commissioners that Jaczko was verbally abusive in the workplace, and that he withheld vital information from his fellow commissioners. The NRC’s Inspector General is poised to release a report in the next few weeks detailing its findings pertaining to the allegations.

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