Witness Testimony - the Honorable Allison Macfarlane, Chairman - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Hearing Report - Senate Environment and Public Works hearing on the Re- Confirmation of The Honorable Allison Macfarlane as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - May 23, 2013

Witness Testimony - The Honorable Allison Macfarlane, Chairman - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Senators attending: Cardin, Inhofe, Sessions, Vitter, Boxer, Barrasso, Carper, Sanders, Boozman, and Gillibrand

With little more than half the full committee appearing at various points, the Senate EPW Committee held the re-nomination hearing for Chairman Allison Macfarlane today. Macfarlane experienced a mild round of questioning, providing answers on the Commission’s handling of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Yucca Mountain review, and hardened venting systems.

Committee members offered opening statements that suggested concerns with the Commission’s regulatory process, or what Sen. Inhofe called “the threat of overregulation.” Ranking member Vitter said, he worried that “Hasty regulatory implementation may overtake the NRC’s tradition of reasonable regulation.” Sen. Sessions called on the NRC to use its Principles of Good Regulation when considering new or additional regulations saying that they are “appropriately balancing,” and asked Macfarlane to “please adhere to these fundamental principles to allow the Commission to reach independent decisions.” Sen. Chairman Boxer read the NRC Mission Statement , and said the NRC’s role is not to promote nuclear power, and stressed that independent decisions include decisions made independent of the nuclear industry. However, the regulatory issue played little role in the questioning, though senators said they may submit further questions for the record.

As expected, Chairman Boxer's focus during questions of Macfarlane was on the SONGS. Indicating she had not received adequate answers to questions prior to the nominee's hearing, she made clear that she did not agree with the NRC's process regarding the potential timing of a restart decision by the technical staff and the completion of internal investigations by the Office of Investigations. Macfarlane commented that she expects the timing of the completion of the technical review as well as the investigations to coincide. However, should the timing of the investigations exceed the completion of the technical review, the NRC staff would confer with the Office of Investigations regarding any potential safety impact of a restart. Macfarlane also stated that these are two different processes and should be maintained separately for their integrity. And, as expected Sen. Sanders expressed his views on Vermont Yankee, and asked Macfarlane for help on providing guidance on SAFSTOR versus immediate decommissioning.

In light of a recent GAO report on the NRC’s emergency preparedness efforts, Sen. Gillibrand sought assurances from Macfarlane that she would re-assess the Commission’s current mile emergency planning zones (EPZ). Macfarlane answered “we are going to re-examine the EPZ.

Sen. Boozman questioned the decision leading to the rule regarding hardened venting systems, saying this decision showed the Commission breaking with precedent in favoring qualitative analysis that he said favored a subjective approach rather than the “hard science” represented by quantitative analysis. Macfarlane said “this was a two part decision voted unanimously to support hardened vents.”

Senate EPW is expected to vote on Macfarlane’s re-nomination as early as the week after Memorial Day recess.