House Democrat asks GAO to investigate nuclear licensing process

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is asking the Government Accountability Office to review the permitting process for nuclear plants as others in his party appear poised to offer lucrative incentives to revive the industry. Among his questions is whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has adequately weighed the risks earthquakes and severe weather may pose to nuclear power plants.

Markey, who co-sponsored climate change legislation that passed the House last June, notes that nuclear power generation, “has been offered by some as one answer to the escalating crisis of global warming as the operation of nuclear power plants results in lower carbon dioxide output than burring carbon-based fossil fuels.”

Markey has a number of concerns about nuclear power, despite its low emissions. A “catastrophic accident” poses a greater safety risk than “many orders of magnitude more severe than any other type of power plant,” the letter states.

There is also a financial risk, as Markey notes the industry’s history of cost overruns. His letter to Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro asks GAO to review the policies and procedures the Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses when issuing a permit for new reactors.

No nuclear reactors have been ordered for thirty years. But climate legislation has revived the sector, at least politically.

Compromise legislation being written by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is expected to include broad subsidies for nuclear power.