Republicans float bill to limit NRC chairman's authority

Rep Lee Terry (R-Neb.) floated legislation Wednesday aimed at limiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman’s authority in emergencies and ensuring that members of the agency have full access to key information.

The legislation — which is co-sponsored by Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess, both Texas Republicans who are senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — comes amid allegations by NRC members that Chairman Gregory Jaczko is overstepping his authority.

The commissioners — two Republicans and two Democrats — alleged in a newly revealed mid-October letter to the White House that Jaczko’s “erratic” behavior is causing “serious damage” to the agency. Read more here.

Republicans have criticized Jaczko for exercising his emergency authority in the aftermath of the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. They argue that the move – which gave Jaczko more decision-making power – was unnecessary because U.S. plants did not face an imminent threat.

“The daily activities of the NRC shouldn’t be covert operations. The [bill] pulls open the curtain that has hidden numerous questionable NRC actions in the past,” Terry said in a statement on the bill. “Trust at the Commission has been broken, and it is time to restore it.”

The legislation would allow the NRC chairman to use his or her emergency authority only if there is “an imminent safety threat to a facility or materials licensed or regulated by the Commission” and if top national security officials verify the threat.

It would also ensure that commissioners have full access to “information relating to actions taken during the emergency.” In addition, the bill would require that commissioners are allowed to participate “in decisions that affect Commission actions and policies beyond the response to a particular emergency.”

Separately, the bill gives the commission 40 days to vote on whether to uphold a decision of the NRC’s licensing board.

Supporters of the long-delayed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository alleged that Jaczko delayed a vote on whether to uphold a decision by the licensing board, which had previously voted to stop the Energy Department from withdrawing the application for the project.

The commission ultimately split 2-2 on the issue, but NRC nonetheless said the administration could move forward with abandoning Yucca.

Terry told The Hill that the NRC is part of next year’s agenda for the committee, but cautioned that its not clear if the new bill specifically will move through the panel.

“It is certainly a preliminary agenda item to discuss,” he said in the Capitol.

He cast the measure as a common-sense set of reforms.

“This just kind of sets some procedures that you would think would have already been in existence, normal-course-of-business types of rules,” Terry said.

—Ben Geman contributed to this story.