When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission furloughed most of its staff during the recent government shutdown, many in the industry understandably asked "why?"
The agency recovers all but 10 percent of its budget through fees collected from licensees. Like the Postal Service and the Social Security Administration, the NRC is designated as an independent agency separate from the normal chain of command in the executive branch. To the confusion of those unfamiliar with its finances, though, the NRC fees go to the U.S. Treasury and the agency must draw its budget from a yearly appropriation from Congress.
The furloughs resulted in delayed public meetings on waste confidence and other important topics. The shutdown also stalled work on the broad range of licensing issues the agency handles day-to-day to keep 100 reactors safely generating roughly a fifth of the country's power. Only about 300 of its 3,900 employees were exempted from furloughs for emergency response and other functions, including resident inspectors at operating plants and the Vogtle and V.C. Summer construction sites. They were not paid until the NRC received its appropriation.
In response, Nuclear Energy Institute CEO Marvin Fertel sent a letter to NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane and her colleagues Tuesday urging them to keep more people onboard in the event of another shutdown.
"We believe that most, if not all, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation personnel in the divisions of safety systems, engineering, operating reactor licensing, risk assessment, and inspection and regional support should have been permitted to continue to perform their duties. A compelling case can be made that this staff should be 'excepted' as necessary to process exigent licensing actions required to (prevent) unnecessarily taking a reactor offline or impeding reactor startup," Fertel wrote, noting the potential for disruptive blackouts if reactors were forced offline.
The trade group urged the NRC to work with Congress and the Obama administration to continue fee-based work during a lapse in appropriations, particularly in regard to emergency licensing actions.