After delaying the decision late last month, a Senate committee was scheduled Wednesday to decide whether to recommend Jeffrey Baran for another five years as a commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had planned to vote on Baran’s renomination during a May 31 business meeting but did not, for reasons committee chair Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) did not disclose. A committee spokesperson later said the vote was dropped due to “scheduling conflicts.”
The committee is now scheduled to vote on Baran’s renomination at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, ahead of a scheduled hearing unrelated to U.S. nuclear policy or industry. The meeting was to stream on the committee’s website.
Baran, who joined the committee in 2014, is already its longest-serving member. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Shelley Capito (W.Va.) opposes Baran’s renomination.
At the May 31 business meeting, Capito said Baran was the wrong man at the wrong moment for the NRC. Another Republican committee member branded Baran as an impediment to a nuclear renaissance that some again believe is poised to dawn in the U.S.
Baran’s term was set to expire June 30. If the committee and the full Senate afterward do not confirm him to a new term, the NRC will drop to four members and become evenly split among Republicans and Democrats. By law, the NRC may have no more than three members who belong to the same political party.
