The Trump administration’s remaining two nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were approved Wednesday, with significant Democratic resistance, by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, squeaked by on an 11-10 vote. Senate EPW Committee policy staffer and nuclear engineer Annie Caputo was confirmed by a wider 15-6 margin.
Panel members did not discuss the reasoning for their votes during the business meeting. However, Nevada lawmakers in both houses of Congress have suggested resistance to both Wright and Caputo over their apparent support for licensing the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository on their state. Neither of Nevada’s senators, Dean Heller (R) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D) serve on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Provided that both nominees win approval from the full Senate, the commission would return to its full five-person membership. The new members would fill out terms in spots that are currently vacant: Caputo to June 30, 2021; and Wright until June 30, 2020.
Last month, the Senate committee expedited the nomination of current NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to another full five-year term, to June 30, 2022. Svinicki won easy approval from the full Senate on June 27, ensuring the commission did not lose its three-member quorum.
The other commissioners are Jeff Baran, whose current terms ends on June 30 of next year, and Stephen Burns, whose terms ends one year later.
“As I said during my floor speech in support of Chairman Svinicki’s nomination, I hoped we would see Commissioner Jeff Baran, who is currently serving on the NRC, renominated and paired with the two other NRC nominees. Unfortunately, that has not yet happened,” said the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).
“I believe it is critical for the independent Commission to have consistent leadership from both political parties, especially as the industry faces an uncertain future,” Carper also said.
