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Good afternoon Chairman Dicus, Inspector General Bell, ladies and gentleman. My name is Ralph Beedle and as senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, I represent the more than 275 members of the Institute. Every U.S. company that operates a nuclear power plant is a member. NEI also represents nuclear fuel cycle companies, suppliers, engineering firms, national laboratories, manufacturers of radiopharmaceuticals, universities, law firms and labor unions.

It is obvious from the previous speakers of this panel that there are two differing views on the issue of remediating NRC-licensed sites. I hope to provide you with another perspective—that of licensees who are challenged to implement a site cleanup program to satisfy duplicative federal regulations.

Before I discuss the real problems and lack of finality that this situation poses for decommissioning sites, it is important to provide some context on how this issue evolved. And, why the industry believes that the proper authority for setting radiation standards at remediated sites rests with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

For years, the Environmental Protection Agency deferred to the NRC on residual radiation standards for NRC-licensed sites. This practice, if not the policy, changed in 1997. That year, the NRC formalized its approach for site license termination by adopting an annual radiation limit of 25-millirem. The rule ensured public health and safety through a comprehensive protection program that covered total exposure to the public.