House Energy and Commerce Committee
Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee
Oversight of NRC
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security will hold a hearing entitled “Oversight of the NRC: Ensuring Efficient and Predictable Nuclear Safety Regulation for a Prosperous America.” The hearing will examine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) role in regulating and licensing commercial power plants, advanced nuclear technologies, and other uses of nuclear materials.
Witnesses:- Christopher T. Hanson, Chairman, NRC
- Jeff Baran, Commissioner, NRC
- David A. Wright, Commissioner, NRC
- Annie Caputo, Commissioner, NRC
- Bradley R. Crowell, Commissioner, NRC
The NRC operates as an independent safety regulator and oversees the commercial nuclear industry pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act, as amended. In keeping with the established policy, the NRC, per its mission statement, “licenses and regulates the Nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials to provide reasonable assurances of adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment.”
Today, the NRC’s regulatory mission covers three main areas: Reactors, Materials, and Waste. The NRC regulates commercial nuclear power plants; research, test, and training reactors; nuclear fuel cycle facilities; and nuclear materials used in medicine, academia, and industry. The Commission is also responsible for regulating the transport, storage, disposal of nuclear materials and waste, and facility decommissioning, in addition to the import and export of radioactive materials. The current United States’ nuclear fleet consists of 93 reactors, at 53 plants, in 28 states. The NRC is responsible for the regulation, licensing, and safety of the current fleet.
The NRC is headed by a five-member Commission. The five Commissioners are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms. The President designates one of the Commissioners to be the Chair and official spokesperson of the Committee. The NRC is presently operating with all five Commissioners, including the current Chair, Christopher Hanson.
The NRC’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, including for the Office of the Inspector General, is $1 billion to support 2,949 full-time employees. This request is an increase of $63.2 million or approximately 6.7 percent compared to the FY 2023 enacted budget.6 Of the $979 million in budget authority, NRC expects to recover 823.2 million in fees assessed to applicants and licensees, resulting in a net appropriation request of $156 million, an increase $19 million over 2023 enacted budget.
The NRC major program budget requests are organized under four activities: $530.8 million for Nuclear Reactor Safety, including licensing, regulating, and overseeing civilian nuclear power, research and test reactors, and medical isotope facilities; $152.9 million for Nuclear Materials and Waste Safety, including spent fuel storage and transportation, nuclear materials users, decommissioning and low-level waste, high level waste, and fuel facilities; $304 million for Corporate support, including IT, policy support, human resource management, administrative services; and $0 funding requested for University Nuclear Leadership Program, which includes grants for nuclear engineering education.