The White House’s picks to fill out the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the committee announced.
The confirmation hearing for Annie Caputo and Bradley Crowell, who the Joe Biden administration tapped May 3 to become NRC commissioners, was on the slate for 10:00 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday.
If confirmed — or confirmed again, in Caputo’s case — the two would bring NRC leadership back to a full complement of five commissioners. Since June 2021, when Caputo left the commission, the agency has worked with just three commissioners: David Wright, Jeff Baran and chairman Christopher Hanson.
Currently, Caputo is a consultant with the Idaho National Laboratory, where she works on international cooperation for advanced nuclear reactors. She has also advised the Senate Armed Services Committee on issues related to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s infrastructure since leaving NRC last year.
Crowell is the director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, a position that he’s held since 2016. Crowell was also assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Energy under the Obama administration. Prior to that, he worked for both Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and former Nevada governor and Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.).
By law, no more than three of the NRC’s commissioners may be from the same political party.
