Bingaman wants fast reactor-safety review, eyes hearing

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Tuesday that he wants the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to act quickly on assessments of whether safety standards for U.S. reactors are adequate in light of the unfolding crisis in Japan.

“I think undoubtedly they’ll be taking a fresh look at the safety precautions and provisions that are in place, in light of whatever is learned from the Japanese,” he said in a statement. “I hope that the Commission will quickly reach some conclusions about whether the safety precautions and provisions that it has insisted on are adequate for the future.”

Bingaman credited the commission with being “fairly assiduous” in the past in demanding adequate safety at U.S. reactors, but said the Japanese crisis may spur regulatory changes in the governance of U.S. commercial reactors.

“My own view is that we need to have a diverse set of sources for energy production and nuclear power is currently responsible for 20 percent of our electricity generation,” Bingaman said.

“I think nuclear power can be provided in a safe reliable way and it is possible that we will learn some things from what’s happened in Japan that will persuade us to put in place additional precautions,” he added.

Bingaman said he “would not be surprised if we decide to have a hearing to review the implications of what happened there for our own nuclear power generation capacity.”

Japanese officials are working desperately to prevent complete meltdowns that would produce large-scale releases of dangerous radiation from reactors at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The plant has faced a critical loss of cooling capacity after Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami.