Republicans tell NRC not to overwhelm industry with regulations

U.S. House Republicans led by John Shimkus of Illinois warned Allison Macfarlane, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two weeks, against distracting the power industry with too much regulation.

“The NRC and the industry had a full workload of safety improvements under development before the Fukushima accident occurred,” Shimkus said in prepared remarks before Macfarlane’s first congressional appearance since being sworn in on July 9. “The commission must be diligent about ensuring its licensees can focus on completing changes with greatest safety significance rather than being diverted onto other, less important changes simply to meet artificial timelines.”

Macfarlane succeeded Gregory Jaczko, who resigned amid accusations he kept information from other commissioners and berated and bullied the staff. Jaczko also clashed with colleagues, advocating faster implementation of recommendations made by the agency after the 2011 triple-meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant following an earthquake and tsunami.

In prepared testimony, Macfarlane said U.S. reactors face no imminent risks and that additional requirements will be imposed on power companies to assure nuclear facilities are able to cope with “beyond-design-basis” natural disasters. She said she began to meet regularly with her commissioner colleagues, drawing a contrast between her and Jaczko.

“I make this commitment to you today: I will devote all my energies to serving on the NRC with the attributes that I consider important to good governance -- openness, efficiency and transparency,” she said in testimony. “I will make a strong commitment to collegiality at all levels. An agency endowed with the public trust such as the NRC requires a respectful working environment to assure its integrity.”

Commissioner Kristine Svinicki, who joined the NRC during the Bush administration, said the tone Macfarlane has set in two weeks is constructive and “most welcome.”