By Wayne Barber
It appears increasingly likely that the two remaining Trump administration nominees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t get a vote by the full U.S. Senate until this fall – at which time their confirmation might be tied to a potential second term for Commissioner Jeff Baran.
On July 12, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works voted 15-6 to advance the nomination of Annie Caputo, a nuclear engineer and Republican staffer for the committee. The panel voted 11-10 to advance the nomination of David Wright, an energy consultant and former head of the South Carolina Public Service Commission.
The opposition to both nominees came from Democrats, who did not discuss their objections during the business meeting for the votes. Members of Nevada’s congressional delegation, none of whom serve on the Environment and Public Works Committee, have expressed concerns over Caputo and Wright for their apparent support for developing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in that state.
The full Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the nominees, who would fill the two vacancies on the five-member commission. Meanwhile, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Tom Carper (Del.), has publicly said he would like to see the two Trump nominees paired with a renomination for Baran.
Baran, an Obama administration appointee, is currently serving a first term scheduled to expire on June 30, 2018.
Two different sources have told RadWaste Monitor recently they don’t expect a vote on Caputo and Wright before fall.
Neither Caputo nor Wright “is expected to be presented without a Baran extension, and no movement is expected until the autumn time frame,” an industry representative said Thursday.
That is basically the same assessment that a congressional staffer offered last week.
In late June, the Senate prevented the NRC from temporarily losing its quorum when it easily confirmed current NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to a new five-year term that runs through June 2022.
The other sitting NRC commissioner is Stephen Burns, the commission’s former chairman, who is serving a term scheduled to run through June 30, 2019.
