At least one key U.S. senator says he is not satisfied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's streamlining efforts.
The NRC announced recently that it was re-shuffling some top management positions to reflect the post Fukushima Daiichi slowdown in licensing applications and a predicted drop in the industry's prevalence in the U.S. electricity-generation mix.
But the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee James Inhofe (R-Okla.) says he will submit legislation that will trim the regulatory agency's fee structure. By law, 90 percent of the NRC budget is raised by fees it charges for its services.
The bone of contention is the NRC's streamlining efforts. At a committee meeting attended by four NRC commissioners this week Inhofe said that the streamlining should also include budget cuts that reflect the “lighter workload” that regulators can expect. The number of active reactors dropped from 104 in 2012 to 99 currently and the number of applications for new reactors has slowed down.
Inhofe's stance is straight out of the Republican party's platform that espouses a smaller government and tighter fiscal management. “There should be cuts in the budget commensurate with this lighter work load,” Inhofe said. “I know that Project AIM is supposed to be helping us to do that, but I don’t think anyone on our side is satisfied with the progress we’ve made so far," he said. Project AIM is the NRC's name for its streamlining program.
Inhofe also says that the nuclear power industry has spent $4 billion in response to Fukushima Daiichi disaster of March 2011, and that it has little to show for the money spent. In addition, he said he does not trust the NRC will make budget cuts on its own, complaining that he has asked for information on NRC projects and their costs, but not received it.
Inhofe, who said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) shares his views on the agency's streamlining, said he did not “have confidence the agency will diligently address the need for reforms on its own.”
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) also said she was “frustrated and disappointed with the overall slow pace” of changes at the agency reflecting post-Fukushima Daiichi realities.
NRC Commissioner Stephen Burns said the agency's post-Fukushima Daichi response would be complete by the end of 2016. The safety upgrades, he said, were meaningful. “This will substantially improve the already-significant capabilities of U.S. nuclear plants and provide further assurance that they can cope with extreme natural hazards,” he said.