Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair David Wright on Wednesday confirmed a meeting in which an administration official said the agency would be expected to “rubber-stamp” any reactors approved by the departments of Energy or Defense.
Wright told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee the phrase came from Department of Energy attorney Seth Cohen in a spring meeting with other administration officials and Department of Government Efficiency representatives on President Donald Trump’s executive orders to promote nuclear.
“We pushed back and said, ‘We don’t rubber-stamp anything at the NRC,'” Wright told lawmakers during a much-anticipated oversight hearing.
In four executive actions, Trump ordered accelerated approvals of new reactors and expanded the power of the Energy and Defense departments to set safety standards for pilot reactors. The president said the orders were aimed at quadrupling U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050.
Congress in 1974 gave the NRC sole authority to license commercial reactors. DOE, meanwhile, became the government’s nuclear power promoter.
DOE Office of Nuclear Energy official Michael Goff arranged the meeting, said Wright, and featured Cohen and Ted Garrish — also of DOE — alongside DOGE operative Adam Blake and another attorney.
“I said, ‘We were just talking about the executive order for DOE, DOD,’ and that’s when the comment was made. [Cohen] said, ‘Oh well, y’all are basically going to put in a practice that’s going to sort of rubber-stamp what they do,’” Wright told lawmakers.
The NRC chair said he replied, “We’re not going to get our name on anything we haven’t reviewed and accepted and proven to be safe.” The DOE representatives accepted his position, Wright added.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said, “Creating rapid and major disruptions to the nuclear regulatory framework may unintentionally create instability and lead to uncertainty for financing for future projects. The NRC must not lose sight of the central goal of ensuring community safety.”
Concerns about safety, staff departures
Democratic commissioners expressed concern about whether the agency could continue to protect public safety amid staffing shortages and challenges to its independence.
Matthew Marzano and Bradley Crowell did not express confidence they could make the correct decisions on safety matters related to reactor approvals without potentially being fired by the White House.
Marzano said that “the NRC would not license a reactor” that does not pass safety standards, but that it’s a “possibility” he could then be fired.
“I think on any given day, I could be fired by the administration for reasons unknown,” Crowell told lawmakers.
Earlier this year, the White House removed Democratic Commissioner Christopher Hanson before his term expired, citing the president’s authority to dismiss executive branch officials. Hanson said his termination was “illegal.”
The agency lost 143 employees between January and June, as well as several senior staff members, as part of the administration’s quest to shrink the government.
“If we lose any more staff, that’s going to be tough to credibly make safety cases on a timeline that we’re being asked to do,” Crowell said.
Wright, for his part, said nothing would compromise safety and that he would stand by his regulatory decisions regardless of outside factors.
White House vetting of rules
Committee ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked Wright how the NRC was complying with the administration’s directive that major new actions by independent agencies be reviewed by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The senator asked whether OIRA could change nuclear safety rulemaking behind closed doors and then “comes back to you with a very strong headwind from the White House, saying, ‘Do this, or you’re out of luck.’”
Wright said, “We’ve not seen any of the things that you have alluded to.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) then asked how many NRC actions have been submitted to OIRA under the new policy. Wright said he believed it to be 18, though he needed to confirm the number.
“Can the White House change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s rules and decisions?” Markey asked.
Wright said he wasn’t certain.
“I may have to get back to you about that, just on detail. I’m not sure how that works. I do know that … we have the ability to have conversations with them on things that maybe aren’t aligned or … they don’t agree with or something like that,” Wright said.
NRC relationship with administration
Despite the ongoing shakeup, all of the commissioners expressed optimism that the administration and the NRC would, in the end, work together to successfully and safely deploy new reactors.
“We’re working very closely with OIRA to understand the process. So far, they’ve worked pretty seamlessly with us,” Wright said. “Working with DOE and working with DOD or any other agency — it’s nothing new to the NRC. We’ve done this historically.”
While Crowell espoused reservations about parts of the president’s executive orders, the Democratic appointee said his interactions with administration officials show mutual goals and respect.
“While I have concerns, our shared goals across the government for a stable, safe and prosperous energy future give me optimism and measured confidence that we can stay on the high end of this slippery slope and the right side of history,” Crowell said.
This story also appears in Energywire.
