Joining the majority of the federal government, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that yesterday would be its last day of normal operations due to a lack of government appropriations from the shutdown. “Despite our best hopes, the NRC on Thursday will be joining the rest of the federal government in shutting down due to a lapse in appropriations. I believe we all share a deep disappointment that this action has become necessary,” Chairman Allison Macfarlane said in a blog post. Previously, the NRC had said that Thursday would be the last day of normal operations, but according to Eliot Brenner, spokesman for the NRC, “an expense cut into our financial safety margin, prompted the decision to close earlier than previously expected.” The NRC announced last week that it had enough carryover funding to avoid impacts for at least a week from the beginning of the government shutdown. The federal government shut down on Oct. 1 due to Congress’ failure to complete appropriations legislation to provide funding at the start of Fiscal Year 2014.
The NRC’s shutdown plan reduces staff to essential and emergency personnel. “Staffing for NRC ‘excepted functions’ necessary to support emergency operations during a lapse of appropriations is approximately 300 of the agency’s 3,900 employees. Of that number, roughly half are resident inspectors assigned to reactor and fuel facilities,” NRC Executive Director for Operations Mark Satorius wrote in a recent blog post. Macfarlane assured that safety would still be maintained. “Let me stress, however, that all of our resident inspectors will remain on the job and any immediate safety or security matters will be handled with dispatch. We can — and will without hesitation — bring employees out of furlough to respond to an emergency. We must, in this regard, err on the side of safety and security.” With approximately 92 percent of staff furloughed, most NRC projects will be put on hold. “Everything but essential plant safety inspection work will in large measure be put on hold,” Brenner said last week.
