As promised in April, President Barack Obama has nominated Kristine Svinicki for a second term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission despite opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats in Congress.
The White House announced the nomination in a brief statement issued Tuesday. Svinicki, whose term ends June 30, was first appointed to the NRC in 2008. She took up the post after working on nuclear issues for the Senate Armed Services Committee under Republican Sens. John Warner and John McCain. She also spent several years as a policy adviser to then Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho, according to her NRC biography and the White House release.
With a bachelor’s in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Svinicki began her career in 1989 as an energy engineer at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Before coming to Capitol Hill, she worked for the Department of Energy in its Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, its Idaho Operations Office and its Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Her statements before Congress regarding the latter position recently drew a public rebuke from Reid, who accused her of lying about her work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Svinicki denied that allegation. She has also clashed with former Reid staff member and NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko.
Her confirmation in the Senate is uncertain, with Republicans favoring her reappointment. Following the announcement, The Hill newspaper quoted Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., as saying they had not yet made a decision on moving the nomination forward.