Public Policy

Chairman Barton, Ranking Member Hall and members of the subcommittee, my name is Ralph Beedle. I am the chief nuclear officer and senior vice president at the Nuclear Energy Institute. NEI is the policy-setting organization for the U.S. nuclear energy industry. We represent more than 275 members worldwide, including every U.S. electric utility that operates a nuclear power plant, as well as suppliers, nuclear fuel cycle companies, engineering and consulting firms, radiopharmaceutical laboratories, universities, and labor unions.

Nuclear power plants produce nearly 20 percent of the nation's electricity and provide the largest source of emission-free energy in the United States. This energy source must be sustained to meet the energy, economic and environmental protection demands of the 21st century.

The U.S. nuclear energy industry has built a solid record of safe, efficient performance at the nation's 103 nuclear power reactors, making it the global leader in advanced nuclear power technology.

The industry's continued commitment to safe nuclear plant operation must be accompanied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ability to fulfill its mission as a strong, credible regulator. As electric utilities continue the transition to a competitive electricity market, the NRC must improve its efficiency and the effectiveness of its regulations.

In the past year, the NRC commissioners and staff have taken the initial steps toward meaningful regulatory reform. The industry applauds the NRC commissioners and staff in demonstrating that difficult issues can be resolved and important decisions made in an efficient and timely manner.

Nonetheless, the single most important challenge facing the nuclear energy industry in the near term is a regulatory process that consumes licensee and NRC resources on issues that have little or no safety significance… and that produces inconsistency in assessing plant performance and enforcement.

It is important that Congress continue to provide ongoing oversight of… and support to… the NRC in its transition to a regulatory process that uses risk insights to focus resources on those areas most important to maintaining high safety standards. The task at hand is sustaining the effort the commission started last year.

This transition to an objective, safety-focused regulatory process will require a review of statutory provisions, some of which are no longer relevant amid a changing regulatory environment. Specifically, I would like to expand on three points that the industry believes merit congressional attention:

• First, the cost of NRC programs that are not directly related to the regulation of NRC licensees should not be included in user fees assessed to those licensees. Examples of these programs include: international activities and work in support of federal agencies and NRC agreement states. This subcommittee, in reauthorizing the NRC, should remove those items from the user fee base. This committee, just last year in its report on H.R. 3532, stated that "the NRC utilizes annual charges assessed against licensees to cover the costs of administering programs which do not directly relate to the regulation of, nor provide a direct benefit to, these licensees." In fact, the NRC itself has recommended to the Office of Management and Budget that these programs be supported by general revenues and not user fees. Unfortunately, this proposal was overruled by OMB.
  

• Second, the NRC must develop a long-range strategic plan for regulatory reform, and continue its transition to a nuclear plant oversight process that focuses resources on those areas most important to maintaining safety.
  

• And third, the industry supports the NRC's legislative proposals contained in H.R. 3521. Of particular importance is the designation of the NRC's residual radiation standard as the sole requirement at NRC-licensed facilities for the cleanup of radioactive materials. Congress also should approve proposals to allow foreign ownership of commercial nuclear power plants and to eliminate antitrust reviews conducted by the NRC.
  

The industry recommends an additional legislative proposal to provide the NRC the flexibility to redefine its organizational structure. The agency is currently restrained from doing so by The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, which require the NRC to establish specific offices and functions. The industry believes the NRC is best positioned to determine what organizational arrangement will enable it to fulfill its mandate to assure public health and safety.

Mr. Chairman, continued oversight of the NRC by this subcommittee is important to ensure that the necessary steps toward broad reform of the agency are being taken in a comprehensive and timely manner.

The NRC has made tremendous progress during the past year, but it must establish the long-term vision and work plan for making the regulatory framework for the commercial nuclear energy industry risk-informed and performance-based, and focused on those areas most important to protect the health and safety of the public.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the subcommittee for this opportunity to present the industry's view on this important issue. I welcome any questions from the members of this subcommittee.