NRC COMMISSIONER: IF CUTS SINK LICENSING, ECONOMY WILL SUFFER

If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing activities are negatively impacted as a result of automatic federal budget cuts, it could have serious repercussions for the U.S. economy, NRC Commissioner Kristine Svinicki said at a U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council meeting yesterday. Last month NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane said the automatic federal spending cuts could potentially impact licensing activities and, at the June 5 USNIC meeting, Svinicki said that agencies required to charge fees might actually end up having more of a harmful impact during sequestration if it continues. The agency imperatives of human health and safety “will always be funded, and thus licensing activities become more discretionary than oversight,” Svinicki said. “So we have to go back [and tell that] to those who were intending to submit licensing work to us. They have the intention to invest, they have the good faith of their board, and they come to us for approval that could cost them tens of millions of dollars. If we tell them we might have to suspend that work … the investment will not be made. These are companies with capital who are looking to hire people and do work, and here’s a vicious cycle for the US economy.”

 

Svinicki said she has been suggesting Congress consider an exception for fee recovery agencies. “I am trying to quietly make the case for unique consideration for those of us who, under law, are required to charge a fee for what we do,” Svinicki said. “I’d recommend that policymakers look at that in the interest of the US economy.”