During a U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Senator John Curtis (R-UT) discussed the future of nuclear energy as a clean baseload power source for Utah with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Ho K. Nieh and Commissioner David A. Wright. Throughout the exchange, the Senator stressed that federal policy must empower states rather than imposing “one-size-fits-all” mandates. Curtis also raised concerns regarding slow and duplicative permitting processes, secured a timeline on Utah’s request to add uranium conversion to its state agreement, and advocated for small municipal power agencies navigating the complex NRC application process.
The full transcript of the exchange is below.
Senator Curtis: Chairman Nieh, congratulations. Mayor Wright, thank you for your service and for your leadership during that period of time. Some of you will remember from previous hearings that we both share that title in common. Senator Whitehouse, all those lists of accomplishments that you mentioned, I would attribute to him having been a mayor. And if we could just make every member of the Senate a mayor, we would be in good shape.
Utah, as many of you know, is known as the Beehive State. That’s a reminder that working together produces better outcomes. State and local leaders and industry partners often recognize the potential in their communities long before a federal agency thousands of miles away. That’s why I believe federal policy works best when it empowers states and communities instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all solution across the country.
We also need to acknowledge the reality that comes up repeatedly in these hearings. Our permitting and regulatory processes are too slow, too duplicative, and too unpredictable.
We should recognize the tremendous opportunity in front of us. America has the talent, resources, innovation, capacity to lead the world in next generation energy development and advanced technologies. But leadership requires a government that can move at the pace of innovation.
So, let me start, Chairman Nieh, with a question about rulemaking. As you consider new rules, are you looking at anything for making uranium recovery as a plan for that? If so, maybe a timeline please.
The Honorable Ho K. Nieh: Yes, Senator. The NRC’s efforts for these rulemakings started under the executive order, will cover the entire life cycle of nuclear from the front end to the back end. It’s important that we really look at our regulatory frameworks to make sure that we can enable the entire circle of life in nuclear.
As you already know, America is too dependent on foreign uranium and enrichment, and we need to fix that. And what we are doing with all of these rules is that when the commercial interests align with the capital resources, workforce, and supply chain to bring new facilities all around the fuel cycle to the NRC, we will have a predictable and credible licensing framework to support that.
Curtis: Thank you. Utah has a request to allow conversion to be added to Utah’s agreement in the state status. I hope the NRC is still on track by to give them an answer by the summer. Can you comment on that?
Nieh: I believe we are on track, but I will verify that.
Curtis: Super important. Thank you.
With that, Utah is actively exploring nuclear as a dependable source of clean baseload power. I think it’s been clear Utah wants to be a leader in this. How is the NRC engaging states to provide clarity around the path forward for deploying nuclear?
Nieh: So, Senator, we always stay ready to engage with our state partners through any NRC licensing activities. I would share personally, I’ve been invited to several states to speak about some of the reforms happening at the NRC related to some of the new requirements.
I’ll be, by the end of this month, attending an event in your home state, Senator to do the same. So, we stand ready to engage with the states to ensure that there’s full transparency and awareness about the NRC’s licensing process.
Curtis: Commissioner Wright, please.
The Honorable David A. Wright: If I could add to that, mayor, I mean, Senator, thank you.
Curtis: Mayor works just fine.
Wright: I actually met with the governor’s team, as well as the President of the Senate in Utah and the Speaker of the House, to discuss these things several months ago. I’ve also met personally with Governor Cox and actually appeared in a video with him on the nuclear issues and the nuclear stuff that’s going on in Utah.
So, we are a resource for the states. I think it’s important. And we will assist them as appropriate, to do exactly what Chairman Nieh was talking about to answer the questions, help them better understand the process and all of it consistent with our mission.
Curtis: Excellent. Good. Chairman, or any of you really, comment, really, to the American taxpayers. You’re looking at these changes. These are the things that are upcoming. How can the American taxpayer be assured that we’re on track, that we’re spending their money well? And what is your message to my constituents back home?
Nieh: The message to your constituents is judge us by our actions. We are making our licensing performance more transparent. On our website, there are dashboards that show how we are using resources for licensing. So, there’s increased transparency.
Again, I’ve set priorities for this agency to operate in a more disciplined and efficient manner. So, my message would be the NRC is enabling the safe use of nuclear technologies in America. And I hope that people in your state will be able to judge that and confirm that through our actions and results.
Curtis: Ranking Member Whitehouse, I’m going to paraphrase something you said in remarks, and I’ll get it wrong, so I’ll apologize. But you kind of classified a couple of different applicants to those who are on their game. They know what they’re doing, and when they do so, they interact well with NRC. Others are not so.
I would introduce a third class. I think of Utah Municipal Power Authority and Power and UAMPS, two municipal organizations in the state of Utah who I would say kind of fall in a third category, who really just don’t have the resources to navigate the way that some of these larger organizations do.
And so just a quick question about what you’re doing to ensure applicants who don’t have a wealth of resources know how to navigate this as well, who are good actors and who we want to be players in this in this space.
Nieh: One of the most important things we do, Senator, is our pre-application engagement with applicants. That is one of the most valuable things to ensure that there’s clear expectations on what is expected to be in an application.
And, you know, it’s very clear that the applications have to contain sufficient information that demonstrate NRC requirements are met. So, we do those discussions upfront, and it really is a prioritization tool for us as well as an agency.
We can judge through a pre-application engagement what level of maturity the application may be, in, what type of information gaps may exist, and it helps us really prioritize what to focus on.
Curtis: I’m out of time, but thank you for your answers and really thank you for the good work that all of you do as Commissioners. We don’t get very many hearings—and yes, we have our questions and yes, we have our concerns—we don’t get very many hearings when we have a body in front of us that’s really doing really good work and really at a critical point, not just for nuclear, but for energy throughout our whole country.
So, thank you and I yield my time.
Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse: And I will accept my friend’s characterization of a third category.
Curtis: Thank you.
